Compositions and methods for modulation of plant cell division

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides compositions and methods for modulating cell division in plants. In particular, the present invention provides polynucleotides that encode REVOLUTA. In addition, REVOLUTA vectors and transformed plants are provided wherein plant cell division is modulated by expression of a REVOLUTA transgene as compared to a control population of untransformed plants. The present invention also provides methods for the isolation and identification of REVOLUTA genes from higher plants.

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/164,587, filed November 10, 1999.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to compositions and methods for modulating plant division and growth. More specifically, transgene vectors, cells, plants and methods for producing the same are provided that facilitate the production of plants having an increased or decreased number of cells.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Elaboration of the plant body pattern depends primarily on the proper regulation of cell division versus cell differentiation at the growth sites called meristems. In seed plants, apical growth is carried out by the apical meristems. Although structurally identical, shoot apical meristems differ ontogenetically. A primary shoot apical meristem originates during embryogenesis and becomes the apex of the primary shoot. Secondary shoot apical meristems develop later on the sides of the primary shoot and form lateral shoots. In many seed plants, radial growth of the shoot is conferred by the cambium, a cylindrical meristematic layer in the shoot body. Growth of lateral “leafy” organs (i.e., leaves, petals, etc.) occurs from transient meristems formed on the flank of the apical meristem. Root growth occurs from analogous apical and cambial meristems. Presently, very little of the regulation and interaction of these different types of meristems is understood.

The commercial value of a cultivated plant is directly related to yield, i.e. to the size and number of the harvested plant part, which in turn is determined by the number of cell divisions in the corresponding plant tissues. Although a genetic approach to the study of plant development has provided important information on pattern formation and organ morphogenesis (see, for example, Riechmann et al., 1997 Biol. Chem. 378:1079–1101; Barton, 1998 Current Opin. Plant Biol. 1:3742; Christensen et al., 1998 Current Biol. 8:643–645; Hudson, 1999 Current Opin. Plant Biol. 2:56–60; Irish, 1999 Dev. Biol. 209:211–220; Scheres et al., 1999 Current Topics Dev. Biol. 45:207–247). Very little has been learned about how and what regulates plant cell division, and, therefore the overall size of a plant organ. Therefore, the isolation and manipulation of genes controlling organ size via regulatory effects on cell division will have a large impact on the productivity of virtually every commercial plant species.

Hermerly et al. (1995 EMBO J. 14:3925–3936) studied the effects on tobacco plant growth and development using a dominant negative mutation of an Arabidopsis thaliana Cdc2 kinase gene. Cdc2 kinase activity is required in all eukaryotic organisms to properly progress through the cell cycle. Hermerly et al. showed that expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana gene encoding the dominant negative Cdc2 protein in tobacco plants resulted in plants that were morphologically normal, but were smaller in size due to a reduction in the frequency of cell division. Thus, the regulation of plant cell division can be at least partially uncoupled from plant development. However, in normal plant growth and development, Cdc2 kinase activity must be activated by other regulatory proteins in order to instigate plant cell division.

A large number of plant mutants have been isolated that display a wide variety of abnormal morphological and growth phenotypes (see, for example, Lenhard et al., 1999 Current Opin. Plant Biol. 2:44–50). However, it is difficult to visually identify which plant morphology phenotypes are due to mutations in the putative key controller genes that determine whether a plant cell will grow and divide verses other genes that specify the developmental fate of a cell. Furthermore, even when such a putative plant growth mutant has been identified, a great deal of effort is required to identify which DNA segment encodes the mutant gene product that functions to regulate plant cell division.

For example, Talbert et al. (1995 Development 121:2723–2735), reported Arabidopsis thaliana mutants defective in a gene named revoluta (REV), that appear to display an abnormal regulation of cell division in meristematic regions of mutant plants. More specifically, the REV gene is required to promote the growth of apical meristems, including paraclade meristems, floral meristems and the primary shoot apical meristem. Simultaneously, the REV gene has an opposing effect on the meristems of leaves, floral organs and stems. That is, in leaf, floral organ and stem tissues REV acts to limit cell division, thereby, reducing both the rate of plant growth and final size of the tissue. Loss of functional REV protein in leaf, floral organ and stem tissues leads to an increase in the number of cells and the size of these tissues. In contrast, loss of functional REV protein in apical meristem cells leads to a reduction in cell division and reduced organ size. Talbert et al., (1995, incorporated herein by reference) reports the detailed morphological changes observed in homozygous revoluta plants. The aberrant morphologies recorded for revoluta mutants strongly suggest that the REV gene product has a role in regulating the relative growth of apical and non-apical meristems in Arabidopsis. The revoluta mutations were used to map the REV gene to the generally distal, but unspecified, portion of Chromosome 5 in Arabidopsis. However, prior to the present invention the REV gene sequence and methods for using polynucleotides encoding the REV protein to modulate cell division in transgenic plant cells were unknown.

In principle, mutations in a plant growth regulator gene could also be identified based upon their sequence similarity at the DNA or protein level as compared to animal or fungal genes that are known to play an important role in initiating the cell cycle (such as cyclins) or otherwise regulating growth. For example, homeobox (HB) genes are well know in animals as encoding proteins that act as master control genes that specify the body plan and otherwise regulate development of higher organisms (Gehring et al. 1994, Annu. Rev. Biochem. 63:487–526). The HB genes of animals encode an approximately 60 amino acid protein motif called a homeodomain (HD) that is involved in DNA binding, and the proteins that contain an HD are transcription factors which act as regulators of the expression of target genes. HD regions are highly conserved between both plants and animal. Plant homeobox genes were first identified based upon the isolation of a maize mutant called knotted1 (kn1) that had a dominant mutation that altered leaf development (Vollbrecht et al. 1991, Nature 350:241–243). Genes encoding proteins homologous to the maize Knotted protein have been identified and cloned from a wide variety of plant species based upon their sequence homology (for a review see Chan et al., 1998 Biochim. et. Biophys. Acta 1442:1–19). Hybridization studies indicate that there may be about 35 to 70 different HD-containing genes in Arabidopsis (Schena et al., 1992 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:3894–3898).

A large number of plant HD-containing genes have been isolated using degenerate oligonucleotides made from conserved HD sequences as hybridization probes or PCR primers to identify and isolate cDNA clones (Ruberti et al., 1991 EMBO J. 10:1787–1791; Schena et al, 1992; Mattsson et al, 1992 Plant Mol. Biol. 18:1019–1022; Carabelli et al., 1993 Plant J. 4:469–479; Schena et al., 1994 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:8393–8397; Soderman et al., 1994 Plant Mol. Biol. 26, 145–154; Kawahara et al., 1995 Plant Molec. Biol. 27:155–164; Meissner et al., 1995 Planta 195:541–547; Moon et al., 1996 Mol. Cells 6:366–373; Moon et al., 1996 Mol. Cells 6:697–703; Gonzalez et al., 1997 Biochem. Biophys. Acta 1351:137–149; Meijer et al., 1997 Plant J. 11:263–276; Sessa et al., 1998 Plant Mol. Biol. 38:609–622; Aso et al., 1999 Mol. Biol. Evol. 16:544–552). Analysis of these HD-containing genes revealed the presence of an additional large class of HD-containing genes in plants, known as HD-Zip genes because the proteins encoded by these genes contain a leucine zipper in association with the homeodomain. This class of HD genes are unique to plants (Schena et al., 1992). Based upon amino acid sequence similarity the proteins encoded by the HD-Zip genes have been divided into four HD-Zip subfamilies based upon the degree of amino acid similarity within the HD and leucine zipper protein domains (Sessa et al., 1994 In Molecular-Genetic Analysis of Plant Development and Metabolism [Puigdomenech, P. and Cori, G., eds] Berlin: Springer Verlag, pp 411–426; Meijer et al., 1997). However, similar to the Knotted class of plant HD genes, the HD-Zip genes are also thought to encode proteins that function to regulate plant development (Chan et al., 1998). The presence of both HD and leucine zipper domains in the HD-Zip protein suggests very strongly that these proteins form multimeric structures via the leucine zipper domains, and then bind to specific DNA sequences via the HD regions to transcriptionally regulate target gene expression (Chan et al., 1998). This inference has been experimentally documented by in vitro experiments for many of the HD-Zip proteins (Sessa et al., 1993; Aoyama et al., 1995 Plant Cell 7:1773–1785; Ganzalez et al., 1997 Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1351:137–149; Meijer et al., 1997; Palena et al., 1999 Biochem. J 341:81–87; Sessa et al., 1999), which publications are incorporated herein by reference.

Antisense and ectopic expression experiments have been performed with some HD-Zip subfamily I, II, III and IV genes to access the phenotypic consequences of shutting off HD-Zip gene expression and over producing HD-Zip protein throughout a plant (Schena et al., 1993; Aoyama et al., 1995; Tomero et al., 1996; Meijer et al., 1997; Altamura et al., 1998). Additional evidence regarding HD-Zip function has been inferred from in situ hybridization and Northern blot hybridization experiments to determine the temporal pattern of HD-Zip gene expression through plant development as well as to locate which specific plant cells or tissues exhibit HD-Zip gene expression (See Table 1). However, as demonstrated by the information compiled in Table 1, there is no clear pattern as to what regulatory roles HD-Zip proteins play in plant growth and development either as a super family or at the subfamily level. Furthermore, there has been no recognition that a HD-Zip gene product is involved in the regulation of plant cell division.

TABLE 1 HD-Zip Genes And Their Proposed Functions HD-Zip Subfamily Expression Proposed and Gene Pattern Function Reference Subfamily I Athb-1 late plant activation of Aoyama et al., 1995 development genes related to leaf development Athb-3 root and stem ? Soderman et al., 1994 cortex Athb-5 leaf, root ? Soderman et al., 1994 and flower Athb-6 leaf, root ? Soderman et al., 1994 and flower Athb-7 low level signal Soderman et al., 1994, throughout plant, transduction 1996 induced by pathway in abscisic acid and response to water deficit water deficit CHB1 early maintenance of Kawahara et al., 1995 embryogenesis indeterminant cell fate CHB2 early ? Kawahara et al., 1995 embryogenesis CHB3 mature tissue ? Kawahara et al., 1995 CHB4 hypocotyl ? Kawahara et al., 1995 CHB5 hypocotyl and ? Kawahara et al., 1995 roots CHB6 late ? Kawahara et al., 1995 embryogenesis, mature tissue Hahb-1 stem ? Chan et al., 1994 VAHOX-1 phloem of differentiation Tornero et al., 1996 adult plants of cambium cells to phloem tissue Subfamily II Athb-2 vegetative and involved in Schena et al., 1993; (HAT4) reproductive light perception Carabelli et al, 1993; phases of plant, and related 1996; Steindler et al., induced by responses in 1999; far-red-rich light regulation of development Athb-4 vegetative and involved in Carabelli et al., 1993 reproductive light perception phases of plant, and related induced by responses far-red-rich light Hahb-10 stems and roots ? Gonzalez et al., 1997 Oshox 1 embryos, shoots leaf Meijer et al., 1997 of seedlings and developmental leaves of mature regulator plants Subfamily III Athb-8 procambial cells regulation Baima et al., 1995; of the embryo, of vascular Altamura et al., 1998; induced by auxins development Sessa et al., 1998 Athb-9 mRNA slightly ? Sessa et al., 1998 enriched in stem compared to leaf, root and flower Athb-14 Strongly enriched ? Sessa et al., 1998 in stem, root, slightly enriched in flower compared to leaf crhb1 expressed only in ? Aso et al., 1999 gametophyte Subfamily IV Athb-10 trichome cells and positive Rerie et al., 1994; Di (Gl-2) non-hair root regulator of Cristina et al., 1996; cells epidermal cell Masucci et al., 1996 development ATML1 Expressed in L1 Regulation of Lu et al., 1996 layer of the shoot epidermal cell apical meristem fate and pattern formation Hahrl Expressed in Early plant Valle et al., 1997 dry seeds, development? hypocotyls and roots

The results summarized in Table 1 show that the regulatory role of any one individual HD-Zip gene product can not be predicted based upon which HD-Zip subfamily a gene is placed. The HD-Zip subfamilies were determined by alignment and comparison of the amino acid sequences found in the HD and leucine zipper domains (See Aso et al. 1999, FIG. 2 for the most recent HD-Zip region alignments). Conservation of HD-Zip regulatory function can be expected in many cases to depend on the extent of amino acid sequence similarity found in conserved protein domains found outside of the HD-Zip regions. That is, HD-Zip gene products from different plant species that are functional homologues to each other (i.e., perform the same biological function) are expected to not only share conserved HD-Zip regions, but show more amino acid sequence similarity over the entire length of the protein compared to other HD-Zip proteins that perform different biological roles. Thus, it is not surprising that the data summarized in Table 1 shows that there is no consistent pattern as to the inferred biological functions for individual HD-Zip I, II, III and IV gene products. Nonetheless, there is still wide-spread speculation that the proteins of the HD-Zip super family play important roles in regulating plant development (See, for example, Chan et al. 1998).

Given the agronomic importance of plant growth, there is a strong need for transgene compositions containing gene sequences which when expressed in a transgenic plant allow the growth of the plant to be modulated. The compositions and methods of the present invention allow useful transgenic plants to be created wherein cell division is modulated due to expression of a REVOLUTA transgene. Compositions and methods, such as those provided by the present invention, allow for controlling (including increasing) plant size via the ability to control (e.g., increase) the number of cell divisions in specific plant tissues.

The inventive compositions and methods provide another way to meet the ever-increasing need for food and plant fiber due to the continual increase in world population and the desire to improve the standard of living throughout the world. Despite the recent agricultural success in keeping food production abreast of population growth, there are over 800 million people in the world today who are chronically undernourished and 180 million children who are severely underweight for their age. 400 million women of childbearing age suffer from iron deficiency and the anemia it causes results in infant and maternal mortality. An extra 2 billion persons will have to be fed by the year 2020, and so many more that will be chronically undernourished. For example, in forest trees the cambium is responsible for girth growth. In tomato (and many other plants), the ovary walls are responsible, not only for mature fruit size but also for soluble solids content. In cereal crops, the endosperm contributes to seed size. In some cases, increased yield may be achieved by lengthening a fruit-bearing structure, such as maize where the ear is a modified stem whose length determines the number of kernels. Moreover, possible use of transgenic plants as a source of pharmaceuticals and industrial products may require contro of organ specific growth modulation.

The potential of a designer growth-increasing or growth-decreasing technology in agriculture is very large. A yield increase as small as a few percent would be highly desirable in each crop. Conversely, in many fruit crops it is highly desirable to have seedless fruits. The present invention, in addition to being applicable to all existing plant varieties, could also change the way crops are bred. Plant breeding could concentrate on stress and pest resistance as well as nutritional and taste quality. The growth-conferring quality of the present invention could then be introduced in advanced elite lines to boost their yield potential.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides compositions and methods for modulating plant cell division by altering the level of REVOLUTA protein within transgenic plants. In particular, the present invention relates to the use of REVOLUTA transgenes to increase or decrease the expression of biologically active REVOLUTA protein and thereby modulate plant cell division.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a DNA molecule comprising a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a REVOLUTA protein that is at least about 70% identical to the Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein sequence [SEQ ID NO:2] is provided. According to certain embodiments, the protein is at least about 80% identical to SEQ ID NO:2. Preferably, the DNA molecule comprises a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a REVOLUTA protein that has the same biological activity as the Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein, i.e. it modulates plant cell division. According to certain preferred embodiments, the protein encoded by the DNA molecule confers a REV phenotype.

According to certain preferred embodiments, the invention provides a polynucleotide at least 80% identical to at least one exon of the Arabidopsis REVOLUTA nucleic acid sequence, selected from exons 3–18 (nucleotides 3670–3743, 3822–3912, 4004–4099, 4187–4300, 4383–4466, 4542–4697, 4786–4860, 4942–5048, 5132–5306, 5394–5582, 5668–5748, 5834–5968, 6051–6388, 6477–6585, 6663–6812, and 6890–7045 of SEQ ID NO:1).

Similarly, the present invention provides an isolated DNA molecule comprising a polynucleotide sequence at least about 80% identical to at least one exon of the tomato Rev gene, or a polynucleotide, selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:187, SEQ ID NO:188, SEQ ID NO:189, SEQ ID NO:190, SEQ ID NO:191, SEQ ID NO:192, SEQ ID NO:193, SEQ ID NO:194, SEQ ID NO:195, and SEQ ID NO:196.

According to other embodiements, the present invention provides an isolated DNA molecule comprising a polynucleotide sequence which encodes a protein comprised of an amino acid sequence at least about 95% identical to certain regions of a REV gene product, especially a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:130; SEQ ID NO:131; SEQ ID NO:132; SEQ ID NO:133; SEQ ID NO:134; SEQ ID NO:135; SEQ ID NO:136; and SEQ ID NO:137.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the encoded protein comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:159, SEQ ID NO:160, SEQ ID NO:164, SEQ ID NO:171 and SEQ ID NO:173.

The present invention also provides embodiments where the polynucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:157, SEQ ID NO:158, SEQ ID NO:163, SEQ ID NO:164, SEQ ID NO:169, SEQ ID NO:170, and SEQ ID NO:172.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a polynucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9 and SEQ ID NO:11, wherein the polynucleotide sequence encodes a mutant revoluta protein that is defective in normal regulation of cell division as compared to the wild-type REV protein. The present invention also provides an isolated protein comprising an amino sequence selected from the group consisting of wild-type Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein [SEQ ID NO:2], and revoluta mutant proteins designated rev-1, rev-2,4, rev-3, rev-5 and rev-6, as setforth in FIG. 3. Other inventive REVOLUTA proteins are provided that comprise amino acid sequences that are at least about 70% identical to the Arabidopsis REV amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, transgenic vectors are provided that comprise a replicon and a REVOLUTA transgene comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9 and SEQ ID NO:11. Preferably, the transgenic vectors of the present invention also include either a constitutive or a tissue specific promoter region that directs the expression of the REVOLUTA transgene, and a polyA addition region. The expression of the REVOLUTA transgene results in a modulation of cell division in plant cells transformed with the inventive transgenic vector. In another embodiment the transgene vectors of the present invention contain a polynucleotide sequence comprising a sequence that encodes a protein that is at least about 70% identical to the wild-type Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein sequence [SEQ ID NO:2]. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the polynucleotide sequence encodes a protein that has a peptide region that is at least about 70% identical to a region of wild-type Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein that is defined by amino acid 114 up to and including amino acid 842 of the protein in SEQ ID NO:2.

In another aspect of the invention transgenic plants are provided that comprise at least one of the above described polynucleotides and REVOLUTA transgene vectors. In one aspect of the invention the transformed plants exhibit a modulation of cell division, as compared to untransformed plants, when the inventive REVOLUTA transgenes are expressed within the transformed cells. In particular, the present invention provides transgenic plants (genetically transformed with a nucleic acid sequence comprising a REVOLUTA transgene selected from the group consisting of a sense gene, an anti-sense gene, an inverted repeat gene or a ribozyme gene) that exhibit modulated cell division as compared to a control population of untransformed plants. The transgenic plants of the present invention can be further propagated to generate genetically true-breeding populations of plants possessing the modulated cell division trait. Further, the transgenic plants of the present invention can be crossed with other plant varieties, having one or more desirable phenotypic traits, such as for example, stress and pest resistance or nutritional and taste quality, to generate novel plants possessing the aforementioned desirable traits in combination with the transgenic trait that modulates cell division.

In another aspect, the present invention provides methods for modulating plant cell division comprising the steps of introducing a REVOLUTA transgene into at least one plant cell. The methods of the present invention include the further step of regenerating one or more plants from the cells transformed with the REVOLUTA transgene. Optionally, the regenerated plants may be screened to identify plants exhibiting modulated cell division as compared to untransformed plants. Transgenic plants having a modulated cell division have at least one plant organ or tissue that is larger or smaller in size (due to an increased or decreased number of cells) as compared to untransformed plants. The presently preferred REVOLUTA transgenes for practicing the inventive methods are the polynucleotide sequences previously described above. In addition, the inventive methods can be practiced with a REVOLUTA transgene that is selected from the group consisting of a sense gene, an anti-sense gene, an inverted repeat gene and a REVOLUTA ribozyme gene.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for isolating a REVOLUTA gene from a plant. More specifically the inventive method comprises the steps of:

a) amplifying a plant polynucleotide sequence using a forward and a reverse oligonucleotide primer, said primers encoding an amino acid sequence that is at least about 50% identical to a corresponding amino acid sequence found in SEQ ID NO:2;

b) hybridizing said amplified plant polynucleotide to a library of recombinant plant DNA clones;

c) isolating a DNA molecule from a recombinant DNA clone that hybridizes to said amplified plant polynucleotide;

d) transforming with a vector comprising said amplified plant polynucleotide or said DNA molecule into a plant; and

e) determining that cell division in the transformed plant is modulated by comparing the transformed plant with an untransformed plant. Preferably, the DNA isolated by the inventive method encodes an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70% identical to an amino acid sequence within the REVOLUTA protein having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. In addition, modulation of cell division is preferably determined by comparing the size of a transgenic plant, tissue, or organ thereof with a corresponding untransformed plant, tissue or organ. An increase or decrease in the number of cells in the transgenic plant, tissue or organ as compared to the untransformed plant, tissue or organ indicates that the isolated DNA molecule encodes a REVOLUTA gene of the present invention.

The present invention also provides a plant comprising a chimeric plant gene having a promoter sequence that functions in plant cells; a coding sequence which causes the production of RNA encoding a fusion polypeptide or an RNA transcript that causes homologous gene suppression such that expression of the chimeric plant gene modulates plant growth, e.g. by modulating cell division; and a 3′ non-translated region that encodes a polyadenylation signal which functions in plant cells to cause the addition of polyadenylate nucleotides to the 3′ end of the RNA, where the promoter is heterologous with respect to the coding sequence and adapted to cause sufficient expression of the chimeric plant gene to modulate plant growth of a plant transformed with the chimeric gene.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 presents a genetic map of a 1.95 Mb region of chromosome 5 from Arabidopsis thaliana.

FIG. 2 shows an expanded region of the genetic map presented in FIG. 1 and the location of the REVOLUTA gene as determined by genetic crosses using simple sequence length polymorphism markers.

FIG. 3 shows the complete protein sequence [SEQ ID NO:2] deduced from a REVOLUTA gene [SEQ ID NO:1] isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana. Open triangles indicate splice junctions between the exon and intron nucleotide sequences in the DNA sequence [SEQ ID NO:1] that encodes REVOLUTA. Conserved homeodomain and leucine zipper motifs are indicated in shaded boxes. The underlined amino acid region indicates a second potential leucine zipper motif Intron-exon junctions are indicated by an inverted triangle. The rev-4 mutant amino acid C-terminal extention is indicated in bold under the wild-type sequence.

FIG. 4 shows an alignment of HD-Zip III protein family of Arabidopsis. Protein sequences were aligned using a multiple sequence alignment program and boxshade. Residues highlighted in black are identical; conserved residues are highlighted in gray.

FIG. 5 shows the partial complementation of rev-1 mutants. Panel (A) shows a comparison of rev-1 transgenic plants transformed with either the empty vector (left) or with the 5′ REV construct containing the wild-type REV gene under the control of the endogenous promoter (right). Panel (B) shows a close-up of the rev-1 vector-transformed plant showing empty axils and enlarged flowers characteristic of rev mutant plants. Panel (C) shows a close-up of the rev-1 plant transformed with the 5′ REV construct. Many of the leaf axils have axillary shoots and the flowers are smaller, similar to wild type. Panel (D) shows a control plant (empty vector) for the inverted-repeat constructs, Columbia ecotype. Panels (E–G) show Columbia plants transformed with the 35S-REVIR construct, showing some characteristics of the Rev- phenotype including empty axils (arrowheads). The flowers were similar in size to wild-type flowers, not enlarged like rev flowers. Panel (H) shows a comparison of 35S-REVIR transgenic plant (left) to a parent Columbia plant (right).

FIG. 6 shows a semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of REV mRNA levels.

FIG. 7 shows the expression pattern of REV mRNA. Panels (A–C) show longitudinal sections through inflorescence apices. Arrow indicates an axillary meristem in (A) showing REV expression. (B) is an axillary inflorescence meristem. The numbers indicate the stage of the developing flower primordia. im, inflorescence meristem; g, gynoecium; s, stamen; se, sepal. Panel (D) shows a longitudinal section of stage 10 gyneocium. op, ovule primordia; st, stigma. Panel (E) shows a longitudinal section of a young cauline leaf. Panel (F) shows a longitudinal section of a stage 4 flower showing highest expression in anthers and gynoecium. Panel (G) shows transverse section through a stage 9 flower showing highest expression in anthers and gynoecium. t, tapetum; PMC, pollen mother cells. Panel (H) shows a longitudinal section through a stage 8 flower showing REV expression in the stamens and petal. pe, petal primordia. Panel (I) shows a longitudinal section through a stage 9 flower showing REV expression in the stamens and petal. Panel (J) shows a longitudinal section through a developing seed, showing expression in the endosperm. Panel (K) shows a longitudinal section through a developing seed, showing REV expression in the endosperm. Arrow indicates the suspensor. Panel (L) shows a longitudinal section through a developing seed, showing expression in an early heart stage embryo. Panel (M) shows Histone H4 expression in a developing torpedo stage embryo. Panel (N) shows REV sense probe in a developing late heart stage embryo. Panel (O) shows a longitudinal section of an inflorescence apex with REV sense probe. Panel (P) shows a cross-section of a stem probed with REV antisense. co, cortex. Panel (O) shows a cross-section of a stem with REV sense probe. Panel (R) shows a bright-field image of a cross-section of a rev-1 stern stained in safranin O and fast green FCF as described in Talbert et al., (1995). Panel (S) shows a bright-field image of a cross-section of a wild-type stem.

FIG. 8 shows Histone H4 and FIL expression in rev-1 and wild-type tissue. Panel (A) shows Histone H4 expression in a longitudinal section of a wild-type inflorescence apex. Panel (B) shows Histone H4 expression in a longitudinal section of a rev-1 inflorescence apex. Panel (C) shows an enlarged view from A. Panel (D) shows an enlarged view from B, showing the increased number of H4 expressing cells in the adaxial side of the leaf. Panel (E) shows FIL expression in a transverse section of a wild-type inflorescence meristem (im), including stamen (st) and sepal (se) primordia of stage 3 and 5 flowers. Panel (F) shows transverse section through wild-type flower showing FIL expression in the abaxial sides of carpel valves (va) and petals (pe). Panel (G–H) shows FIL expression in a longitudinal section through rev-1 inflorescence apex, and developing stage 7 flower in the abaxial side of developing stamens (st). Panel (I) shows FIL expression in a transverse section through a rev-1 flower showing FIL expression in the abaxial sides of valves (va) and petal (pe).

FIG. 9 shows rev double mutants. Panel (A) shows a rev lfy double mutant with severely shortened inflorescence terminating in a brush of filaments. The plant also has revolute leaves. Inset: an enlarged view of small filamentous appendages found on the stem of rev lfy plants. Panel (B) shows a rev fil double mutant with severely shortened inflorescence and revolute leaves. Panel (C) shows small filamentous appendages present on the stem of rev lfy plants which resemble a structure frequently seen in axils of rev mutant plants. Panel (D) shows an axil of rev-1 mutant plant with small filamentous appendage. Panel (E) shows the inflorescence structure of a rev lfy plant with a cluster of flowerless filaments that can have stellate trichomes or carpelloid features. Panel (F) shows the inflorescence structure of a rev fil plant with a cluster of smooth flowerless filaments. Panel (G) shows an SEM of a rev fil inflorescence. Bar is 1 mm. Panel (H) shows an SEM of a rev lfy inflorescence with carpelloid features. Panel (I) shows an SEM of a rev lfy inflorescence.

FIG. 10 shows shows a comparison of seed size produced by a typical plant transformed with the empty vector (C) and in a plant transformed with the 35S-REV gene (LS).

FIG. 11 provides examples of rosette and leaf sizes produced by plants transformed with the empty vector (C) and plants transformed with the 35S-REV gene (LS).

FIG. 12 provides examples of inflorescence stem and cauline leaf sizes produced by plants transformed with the empty vector (C) and plants transformed with the 35S-REV gene (LS).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, the terms “amino acid” and “amino acids” refer to all naturally occurring L-α-amino acids or their residues. The amino acids are identified by either the single-letter or three-letter designations:

Asp D aspartic acid Ile I isoleucine Thr T threonine Leu L leucine Ser S serine Tyr Y tyrosine Glu E glutamic acid Phe F phenylalanine Pro P proline His H histidine Gly G glycine Lys K lysine Ala A alanine Arg R arginine Cys C cysteine Trp W tryptophan Val V valine Gln Q glutamine Met M methionine Asn N asparagine

As used herein, the term “nucleotide” means a monomeric unit of DNA or RNA containing a sugar moiety (pentose), a phosphate and a nitrogenous heterocyclic base. The base is linked to the sugar moiety via the glycosidic carbon (1′ carbon of pentose) and that combination of base and sugar is called a nucleoside. The base characterizes the nucleotide with the four bases of DNA being adenine (“A”), guanine (“G”), cytosine (“C”) and thymine (“T”). Inosine (“I”) is a synthetic base that can be used to substitute for any of the four, naturally-occurring bases (A, C, G or T). The four RNA bases are A, G, C and uracil (“U”). The nucleotide sequences described herein comprise a linear array of nucleotides connected by phosphodiester bonds between the 3′ and 5′ carbons of adjacent pentoses.

The terms “DNA sequence encoding,” “DNA encoding” and “nucleic acid encoding” refer to the order or sequence of deoxyribonucleotides along a strand of deoxyribonucleic acid. The order of these deoxyribonucleotides determines the order of amino acids along the translated polypeptide chain. The DNA sequence thus codes for the amino acid sequence.

The term “recombinant DNA molecule” refers to any DNA molecule that has been created by the joining together of two or more DNA molecules in vitro into a recombinant molecule. A “library of recombinant DNA molecules” refers to any clone bank comprising a number of different recombinant DNA molecules wherein the recombinant DNA molecules comprise a replicable vector and DNA sequence derived from a source organism.

“Oligonucleotide” refers to short length single or double stranded sequences of deoxyribonucleotides linked via phosphodiester bonds. The oligonucleotides are chemically synthesized by known methods and purified, for example, on polyacrylamide gels.

The term “plant” includes whole plants, plant organs (e.g., leaves, stems, flowers, roots, etc.), seeds and plant cells (including tissue culture cells) and progeny of same. The class of plants which can be used in the method of the invention is generally as broad as the class of higher plants amenable to transformation techniques, including both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, as well as certain lower plants such as algae. It includes plants of a variety of ploidy levels, including polyploid, diploid and haploid.

A “heterologous sequence” is one that originates from a foreign species, or, if from the same species, is substantially modified from its original form. For example, a heterologous promoter operably linked to a structural gene is from a species different from that from which the structural gene was derived, or, if from the same species, is substantially modified from its original form.

The terms “REVOLUTA gene” or “REVOLUTA transgene” are used herein to mean any polynucleotide sequence that encodes or facilitates the expression and/or production of a REVOLUTA protein. Thus, the terms “REVOLUTA gene” and “REVOLUTA transgene” include sequences that flank the REVOLUTA protein encoding sequences. More specifically, the terms “REVOLUTA gene” and “REVOLUTA transgene” include the nucleotide sequences that are protein encoding sequences (exons), intervening sequences (introns), the flanking 5′ and 3′ DNA regions that contain sequences required for the normal expression of the REVOLUTA gene (i.e. the promoter and polyA addition regions, respectively, and any enhancer sequences).

The terms “REVOLUTA protein,” “REVOLUTA homolog” or “REVOLUTA ortholog” are used herein to mean proteins having the ability to regulate plant cell division (when utilized in the practice of the methods of the present invention) and that have an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70% identical, more preferably at least about 75% identical, most preferably at least about 80% identical to amino acid residues 1 to 842, inclusive, of SEQ ID NO:2. A REVOLUTA protein of the present invention is also at least about 70% identical, more preferably at least about 75% identical, most preferably at least about 80% identical to an amino acid region defined by amino acids 114 to 842, inclusive, of SEQ ID NO:2. A REVOLUTA protein of the present invention is also identified as a protein that is at least about 70% identical, more preferably at least about 75% identical, most preferably at least about 80% identical to an amino acid region defined by amino acids 433 to 842, inclusive, of SEQ ID NO:2. A REVOLUTA protein of the present invention is also identified as a protein that is at least about 70% identical, more preferably at least about 75% identical, most preferably at least about 80% identical to an amino acid region defined by amino acids 611 to 745, inclusive, of SEQ ID NO:2.

Amino acid sequence identity can be determined, for example, in the following manner. The portion of the amino acid sequence of REVOLUTA (shown in FIG. 3) extending from amino acid 1 up to and including amino acid 842 is used to search a nucleic acid sequence database, such as the Genbank database, using the program BLASTP version 2.0.9 (Altschul et al., 1997 Nucleic Acids Res. 25:3389–3402). Alternatively, the search can be performed with a REVOLUTA protein sequence extending from amino acid 114 up to and including amino acid 842, or amino acid 433 up to and including amino acid 842 or amino acid 611 up to and including 745 of SEQ ID NO:2. The program is used in the default mode. Those retrieved sequences that yield identity scores of at least about 70% when compared to any of the above identified regions of SEQ ID NO:2, are considered to be REVOLUTA proteins.

Sequence comparisons between two (or more) polynucleotides or polypeptides are typically performed by comparing sequences of the two sequences over a “comparison window” to identify and compare local regions of sequence similarity. A “comparison window”, as used herein, refers to a segment of at least about 20 contiguous positions, usually about 50 to about 200, more usually about 100 to about 150 in which a sequence may be compared to a reference sequence of the same number of contiguous positions after the two sequences are optimally aligned.

Optimal alignment of sequences for comparison may be conducted by local identity or similarity algorithms such as those described in Smith and Waterman, 1981 Adv. Appl. Math. 2:482, by the homology alignment algorithm of Needleman and Wunsch, 1970 J. Mol. Biol. 48:443, by the search for similarity method of Pearson and Lipman, 1988 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci (U.S.) 85:2444, by computerized implementations of these algorithms (GAP, BESTFIT, BLAST, BLASTP2.0.9, TBLASTN, FASTA, and TFASTA in the Wisconsin Genetics Software Package, Genetics Computer Group (GCG), 575 Science Dr., Madison, Wis.; Atlschul et al., 1997), or by inspection.

The term “percent identity” means the percentage of amino acids or nucleotides that occupy the same relative position when two amino acid sequences, or two nucleic acid sequences are aligned side by side using the BLASTP2.0.9 program. “Percent amino acid sequence identity,” as used herein, is determined using the BLASTP2.0.9 program with the default matrix: BLOSUM62 (Open Gap=11, Gap extension penalty=1). The percentage is calculated by determining the number of positions at which the identical nucleic acid base or amino acid residue occurs in both sequences to yield the number of matched positions in the window of comparison and multiplying the result by 100 to yield the percentage of sequence identity. Neither N- or C-terminal extensions nor insertions shall be construed as reducing sequence identity.

The term “percent similarity” is a statistical measure of the degree of relatedness of two compared protein sequences. The percent similarity is calculated by a computer program that assigns a numerical value to each compared pair of amino acids based on chemical similarity (e.g., whether the compared amino acids are acidic, basic, hydrophobic, aromatic, etc.) and/or evolutionary distance as measured by the minimum number of base pair changes that would be required to convert a codon encoding one member of a pair of compared amino acids to a codon encoding the other member of the pair. Calculations are made after a best fit alignment of the two sequences have been made empirically by iterative comparison of all possible alignments. (Henikoff et al., 1992 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:10915–10919).

The term “substantial identity” of polynucleotide sequences means that a polynucleotide comprises a sequence that has at least 60% sequence identity, preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 80% and most preferably at least 90%, compared to a reference sequence using the programs described above (preferably BLAST2) using standard parameters. One of skill will recognize that these values can be appropriately adjusted to determine corresponding identity of proteins encoded by two nucleotide sequences by taking into account codon degeneracy, amino acid similarity, reading frame positioning and the like. Substantial identity of amino acid sequences for these purposes normally means sequence identity of at least 60%, preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 80%. Polypeptides which are “substantially similar” share sequences as noted above except that residue positions which are not identical may differ by conservative amino acid changes. Conservative amino acid substitutions refer to the interchangeability of residues having similar side chains. For example, a group of amino acids having aliphatic side chains is glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine; a group of amino acids having aliphatic-hydroxyl side chains is serine and threonine; a group of amino acids having amide-containing side chains is asparagine and glutamine; a group of amino acids having aromatic side chains is phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan; a group of amino acids having basic side chains is lysine, arginine, and histidine; and a group of amino acids having sulfur-containing side chains is cysteine and methionine. Preferred conservative amino acids substitution groups are: valine-leucine-isoleucine, phenylalanine-tyrosine, lysine-arginine, alanine-valine, and asparagine-glutamine.

Another indication that nucleotide sequences are substantially identical is if two molecules hybridize to each other, or a third nucleic acid, under stringent conditions. Stringent conditions are sequence dependent and will be different in different circumstances. Generally, stringent conditions are selected to be about 5° C. lower than the thermal melting point (Tm) for the specific sequence at a defined ionic strength and pH. The Tm is the temperature (under defined ionic strength and pH) at which 50% of the target sequence hybridizes to a perfectly matched probe. Typically, stringent conditions will be those in which the salt concentration is about 0.02 Molar at pH 7 and the temperature is at least about 60° C. Moderately stringent conditions are more preferred when heterologous hybridizations are performed between polynucleotide sequences isolated from different species.

Exemplary high stringency hybridization and wash conditions useful for identifying (by Southern blotting) additional nucleic acid molecules encoding REVOLUTA-homologues are: hybridization at 68° C. in 0.25 M Na₂HPO₄ buffer (pH 7.2) containing 1 mM Na₂EDTA, 20% sodium dodecyl sulfate; washing (three washes of twenty minutes each at 65° C.) is conducted in 20 mM Na₂HPO₄ buffer (pH 7.2) containing 1 mM Na₂EDTA, 1% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate.

Exemplary moderate stringency hybridization and wash conditions useful for identifying (by Southern blotting) additional nucleic acid molecules encoding REVOLUTA-homologues are: hybridization at 45° C. in 0.25 M Na₂HPO₄ buffer (pH 7.2) containing 1 mM Na₂EDTA, 20% sodium dodecyl sulfate; washing is conducted in 5× SSC, containing 0.1% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate, at 55° C. to 65° C. The abbreviation “SSC” refers to a buffer used in nucleic acid hybridization solutions. One liter of the 20× (twenty times concentrate) stock SSC buffer solution (pH 7.0) contains 175.3 g sodium chloride and 88.2 g sodium citrate.

In the case of both expression of transgenes and inhibition of endogenous genes (e.g., by antisense, ribozyme, inverted repeat, sense suppression or transgene directed homologous recombination) one of skill will recognize that the inserted polynucleotide sequence need not be identical and may be “substantially identical” to a sequence of the gene from which it was derived. As explained below, these variants are specifically covered by this term.

In the case where the inserted polynucleotide sequence is transcribed and translated to produce a functional polypeptide, one of skill will recognize that because of codon degeneracy a number of polynucleotide sequences will encode the same polypeptide. These variants are specifically covered by the terms “REVOLUTA gene” and “REVOLUTA transgene.” In addition, these terms specifically includes those full length sequences substantially identical (determined as described below) with a gene sequence and that encode a proteins that retain the function of the REVOLUTA gene product.

In the case of polynucleotides used to inhibit expression of an endogenous gene, the introduced sequence need not be perfectly identical to a sequence of the target endogenous gene. The introduced polynucleotide sequence will typically be at least substantially identical (as determined below) to the target endogenous sequence.

Two nucleic acid sequences or polypeptides are said to be “identical” if the sequence of nucleotides or amino acid residues, respectively, in the two sequences is the same when aligned for maximum correspondence as described above. The term “complementary to” is used herein to mean that the complementary sequence is identical to all or a portion of a reference polynucleotide sequence.

The term “modulation of cell division” means any change in the number of cell divisions that occur in a plant or any plant tissue or plant organ as compared to a control set of plants. For example, modulation of cell division in a transgenic plant of the present invention may result in leaf that is larger than a leaf on an untransformed plant due to an increased number of leaf cells. Modulation of cell division may occur in one plant tissue or organ cell type or through out the plant depending upon the promoter that is responsible for the expression of a REVOLUTA transgene. In addition, modulation of cell division by a REVOLUTA transgene may result in a transgenic plant or tissue that has arrested plant growth due to a cessation or diminution of cell division. Modulation of cell division can be determined by a variety of methods well known in the art of plant anatomy (see, for example, Esau, Anatomy of Seed Plants [2nd ed.] 1977 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York). For example, the overall mass of a transgenic plant may be determined or organ or tissue cell counts may be conducted whereby all of the cells in a representative tissue or organ cross-section are counted. Where the REVOLUTA transgene is expressed in the embryo, modulation of cell division may be also be determined by measuring the size of the seed containing the transgenic embryo as a measure of the number of cells within the embryo.

The terms “alteration”, “amino acid sequence alteration”, “variant” and “amino acid sequence variant” refer to REVOLUTA proteins with some differences in their amino acid sequences as compared to the corresponding, native, i.e., naturally-occurring, REVOLUTA protein. Ordinarily, the variants will possess at least about 67% identity with the corresponding native REVOLUTA protein, and preferably, they will be at least about 80% identical with the corresponding, native REVOLUTA protein. The amino acid sequence variants of the REVOLUTA protein falling within this invention possess substitutions, deletions, and/or insertions at certain positions. Sequence variants of REVOLUTA may be used to attain desired enhanced or reduced DNA binding, protein oligomerization, ability to engage in specific protein—protein interactions or modifications, transcriptional regulation activity, or modified ability to regulate plant cell division.

Substitutional REVOLUTA protein variants are those that have at least one amino acid residue in the native REVOLUTA protein sequence removed and a different amino acid inserted in its place at the same position. The substitutions may be single, where only one amino acid in the molecule has been substituted, or they may be multiple, where two or more amino acids have been substituted in the same molecule. Substantial changes in the activity of the REVOLUTA protein molecules of the present invention may be obtained by substituting an amino acid with another whose side chain is significantly different in charge and/or structure from that of the native amino acid. This type of substitution would be expected to affect the structure of the polypeptide backbone and/or the charge or hydrophobicity of the molecule in the area of the substitution.

Moderate changes in the functional activity of the REVOLUTA proteins of the present invention would be expected by substituting an amino acid with a side chain that is similar in charge and/or structure to that of the native molecule. This type of substitution, referred to as a conservative substitution, would not be expected to substantially alter either the structure of the polypeptide backbone or the charge or hydrophobicity of the molecule in the area of the substitution. However, it is predictable that even conservative amino acid substitutions may result in dramatic changes in protein function when such changes are made in amino acid positions that are critical for protein function.

Insertional REVOLUTA protein variants are those with one or more amino acids inserted immediately adjacent to an amino acid at a particular position in the native REVOLUTA protein molecule. Immediately adjacent to an amino acid means connected to either the α-carboxy or α-amino functional group of the amino acid. The insertion may be one or more amino acids. Ordinarily, the insertion will consist of one or two conservative amino acids. Amino acids similar in charge and/or structure to the amino acids adjacent to the site of insertion are defined as conservative. Alternatively, this invention includes insertion of an amino acid with a charge and/or structure that is substantially different from the amino acids adjacent to the site of insertion.

Deletional variants are those where one or more amino acids in the native REVOLUTA protein molecules have been removed. Ordinarily, deletional variants will have one or two amino acids deleted in a particular region of the REVOLUTA protein molecule.

The terms “biological activity”, “biologically active”, “activity”, “active” “biological function”, “REV biological activity” and “functionallity” refer to the ability of the REVOLUTA proteins of the present invention to dimerize (or otherwise assemble into protein oligomers), or the ability to modulate or otherwise effect the dimerization of native wild type (e.g., endogenous) REVOLUTA proteins. However the terms are also intended to encompass the ability of the REVOLUTA proteins of the present invention to bind and/or interact with other molecules and which binding and/or interaction event(s) mediate plant cell division and ultimately confer a REV phenotype, or the ability to modulate or otherwise effect the binding and/or interaction of other molecules with native wild type REVOLUTA proteins (e.g., endogenous) and which binding and/or interaction event(s) mediate plant cell division and ultimately confer a REV phenotype. Examples of such molecules include, for example, other members of the HD-Zip III family.

Biological activity as used herein in reference to a nucleic acid of the invention is intended to refer to the ability the nucleic acid to modulate or effect the transcription and/or translation of the nucleic acid and/or ultimately confer a REV phenotype. Biological activity as used herein in reference to a nucleic acid of the invention is also intended to encompass the ability the nucleic acid to modulate or affect the transcription and/or translation of a native wild type REVOLUTA (e.g., endogenous) nucleic acid and/or ultimately confer a REV phenotype.

REV phenotype as used herein is intended to refer to a phenotype conferred by a REV nucleic acid or protein of the present invention and particularly encompasses the characteristic wherein an effect, relative to wild type, on organ or tissue size (e.g., increased size of seed, leaves, fruit, or root) is exhibited. Typically, a REV phenotype is determined by examination of the plant, where the number of cells contained in various tissues is compared to the number of cells in the corresponding tissues of a parental plant. Plants having a REV phenotye have a statistically significant change in the number of cells within a representative cross sectional area of the tissue.

The biological activities of REVOLUTA proteins of the present invention can be measured by a variety of methods well known in the art, such as: a transcription activity assay, a DNA binding assay, or a protein oligomerization assay. Such assays in the context of HD-Zip proteins, have been described in Sessa et al., 1993; 1997 J. Mol. Biol. 274:303–309; 1999; Gonzalez et al., 1997; and Palena et al., 1999 Biochem. J. 341:81–87 (contents of said publications incorporated herein by reference). Amino acid sequence variants of the REVOLUTA proteins of the present invention may have desirable altered biological activity including, for example, increased or decreased binding affinity to DNA target sites, increased or decreased ability to form homo- and/or heter-protein oligomers, and altered regulation of target genes.

The terms “vector”, “expression vector”, refer to a piece of DNA, usually double-stranded, which may have inserted into it a piece of foreign DNA. The vector or replicon may be for example, of plasmid or viral origin. Vectors contain “replicon” polynucleotide sequences that facilitate the autonomous replication of the vector in a host cell. The term “replicon” in the context of this disclosure also includes sequence regions that target or otherwise facilitate the recombination of vector sequences into a host chromosome. In addition, while the foreign DNA may be inserted initially into a DNA virus vector, transformation of the viral vector DNA into a host cell may result in conversion of the viral DNA into a viral RNA vector molecule. Foreign DNA is defined as heterologous DNA, which is DNA not naturally found in the host cell, which, for example, replicates the vector molecule, encodes a selectable or screenable marker or transgene. The vector is used to transport the foreign or heterologous DNA into a suitable host cell. Once in the host cell, the vector can replicate independently of or coincidental with the host chromosomal DNA, and several copies of the vector and its inserted (foreign) DNA may be generated. Alternatively, the vector may target insert of the foreign DNA into a host chromosome. In addition, the vector also contains the necessary elements that permit transcription of the foreign DNA into a mRNA molecule or otherwise cause replication of the foreign DNA into multiple copies of RNA. Some expression vectors additionally contain sequence elements adjacent to the inserted foreign DNA that allow translation of the mRNA into a protein molecule. Many molecules of the mRNA and polypeptide encoded by the foreign DNA can thus be rapidly synthesized.

The term “transgene vector” refers to a vector that contains an inserted segment of foreign DNA, the “transgene,” that is transcribed into mRNA or replicated as a RNA within a host cell. The term “transgene” refers not only to that portion of foreign DNA that is converted into RNA, but also those portions of the vector that are necessary for the transcription or replication of the RNA. In addition, a transgene need not necessarily comprise a polynucleotide sequence that contains an open reading frame capable of producing a protein.

The terms “transformed host cell,” “transformed” and “transformation” refer to the introduction of DNA into a cell. The cell is termed a “host cell”, and it may be a prokaryotic or a eukaryotic cell. Typical prokaryotic host cells include various strains of E. coli. Typical eukaryotic host cells are plant cells, such as maize cells, yeast cells, insect cells or animal cells. The introduced DNA is usually in the form of a vector containing an inserted piece of DNA. The introduced DNA sequence may be from the same species as the host cell or from a different species from the host cell, or it may be a hybrid DNA sequence, containing some foreign DNA and some DNA derived from the host species.

In addition to the native REVOLUTA amino acid sequences, sequence variants produced by deletions, substitutions, mutations and/or insertions are intended to be within the scope of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art. The REVOLUTA acid sequence variants of this invention may be constructed by mutating the DNA sequences that encode the wild-type REVOLUTA, such as by using techniques commonly referred to as site-directed mutagenesis. Nucleic acid molecules encoding the REVOLUTA proteins of the present invention can be mutated by a variety of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. See, e.g., “PCR Strategies”, M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand and J. J. Sninsky, eds., 1995, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (Chapter 14); “PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications”, M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand, J. J. Sninsky and T. J. White, eds., Academic Press, NY (1990).

By way of non-limiting example, the two primer system utilized in the Transformer Site-Directed Mutagenesis kit from Clontech, may be employed for introducing site-directed mutants into the REVOLUTA genes of the present invention. Following denaturation of the target plasmid in this system, two primers are simultaneously annealed to the plasmid; one of these primers contains the desired site-directed mutation, the other contains a mutation at another point in the plasmid resulting in elimination of a restriction site. Second strand synthesis is then carried out, tightly linking these two mutations, and the resulting plasmids are transformed into a mutS strain of E. coli. Plasmid DNA is isolated from the transformed bacteria, restricted with the relevant restriction enzyme (thereby linearizing the unmutated plasmids), and then retransformed into E. coli. This system allows for generation of mutations directly in an expression plasmid, without the necessity of subcloning or generation of single-stranded phagemids. The tight linkage of the two mutations and the subsequent linearization of unmutated plasmids results in high mutation efficiency and allows minimal screening. Following synthesis of the initial restriction site primer, this method requires the use of only one new primer type per mutation site. Rather than prepare each positional mutant separately, a set of “designed degenerate” oligonucleotide primers can be synthesized in order to introduce all of the desired mutations at a given site simultaneously. Transformants can be screened by sequencing the plasmid DNA through the mutagenized region to identify and sort mutant clones. Each mutant DNA can then be restricted and analyzed by electrophoresis on Mutation Detection Enhancement gel (J. T. Baker) to confirm that no other alterations in the sequence have occurred (by band shift comparison to the unmutagenized control). Alternatively, the entire DNA region can be sequenced to confirm that no additional mutational events have occurred outside of the targeted region.

The verified mutant duplexes in the pET (or other) overexpression vector can be employed to transform E. coli such as strain E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS, for high level production of the mutant protein, and purification by standard protocols. The method of FAB-MS mapping can be employed to rapidly check the fidelity of mutant expression. This technique provides for sequencing segments throughout the whole protein and provides the necessary confidence in the sequence assignment. In a mapping experiment of this type, protein is digested with a protease (the choice will depend on the specific region to be modified since this segment is of prime interest and the remaining map should be identical to the map of unmutagenized protein). The set of cleavage fragments is fractionated by microbore HPLC (reversed phase or ion exchange, again depending on the specific region to be modified) to provide several peptides in each fraction, and the molecular weights of the peptides are determined by FAB-MS. The masses are then compared to the molecular weights of peptides expected from the digestion of the predicted sequence, and the correctness of the sequence quickly ascertained. Since this mutagenesis approach to protein modification is directed, sequencing of the altered peptide should not be necessary if the MS agrees with prediction. If necessary to verify a changed residue, CAD-tandem MS/MS can be employed to sequence the peptides of the mixture in question, or the target peptide purified for subtractive Edman degradation or carboxypeptidase Y digestion depending on the location of the modification.

In the design of a particular site directed mutagenesis, it is generally desirable to first make a non-conservative substitution (e.g., Ala for Cys, His or Glu) and determine if activity is greatly impaired as a consequence. The properties of the mutagenized protein are then examined with particular attention to DNA target site binding and HD-Zip protein oligomerization which may be deduced by comparison to the properties of the native REVOLUTA protein using assays previously described. If the residue is by this means demonstrated to be important by activity impairment, or knockout, then conservative substitutions can be made, such as Asp for Glu to alter side chain length, Ser for Cys, or Arg for His. For hydrophobic segments, it is largely size that is usefully altered, although aromatics can also be substituted for alkyl side chains. Changes in the DNA binding and protein multimerization process will reveal which properties of REVOLUTA have been altered by the mutation.

Other site directed mutagenesis techniques may also be employed with the nucleotide sequences of the invention. For example, restriction endonuclease digestion of DNA followed by ligation may be used to generate deletion variants of REVOLUTA, as described in section 15.3 of Sambrook et al. (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Ed., 1989 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, N.Y.). A similar strategy may be used to construct insertion variants, as described in section 15.3 of Sambrook et al., supra. More recently Zhu et al. (1999, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:8768–8773) have devised a method of targeting mutations to plant genes in vivo using chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides.

Oligonticleotide-directed mutagenesis may also be employed for preparing substitution variants of this invention. It may also be used to conveniently prepare the deletion and insertion variants of this invention. This technique is well known in the art as described by Adelman et al. (1983 DNA 2:183); Sambrook et al., supra; “Current Protocols in Molecular Biology”, 1991, Wiley (NY), F. T. Ausubel, R. Brent, R. E. Kingston, D. D. Moore, J. D. Seidman, J. A. Smith and K. Struhl, eds.

Generally, oligonucleotides of at least 25 nucleotides in length are used to insert, delete or substitute two or more nucleotides in the nucleic acid molecules encoding REVOLUTA proteins of the invention. An optimal oligonucleotide will have 12 to 15 perfectly matched nucleotides on either side of the nucleotides coding for the mutation. To mutagenize nucleic acids encoding wild-type REVOLUTA genes of the invention, the oligonucleotide is annealed to the single-stranded DNA template molecule under suitable hybridization conditions. A DNA polymerizing enzyme, usually the Klenow fragment of E. coli DNA polymerase I, is then added. This enzyme uses the oligonucleotide as a primer to complete the synthesis of the mutation-bearing strand of DNA. Thus, a heteroduplex molecule is formed such that one strand of DNA encodes the wild-type REVOLUTA inserted in the vector, and the second strand of DNA encodes the mutated form of the REVOLUTA inserted into the same vector. This heteroduplex molecule is then transformed into a suitable host cell.

Mutants with more than one amino acid substituted may be generated in one of several ways. If the amino acids are located close together in the polypeptide chain, they may be mutated simultaneously using one oligonucleotide that codes for all of the desired amino acid substitutions. If however, the amino acids are located some distance from each other (separated by more than ten amino acids, for example) it is more difficult to generate a single oligonucleotide that encodes all of the desired changes. Instead, one of two alternative methods may be employed. In the first method, a separate oligonucleotide is generated for each amino acid to be substituted. The oligonucleotides are then annealed to the single-stranded template DNA simultaneously, and the second strand of DNA that is synthesized from the template will encode all of the desired amino acid substitutions. An alternative method involves two or more rounds of mutagenesis to produce the desired mutant. The first round is as described for the single mutants: wild-type REVOLUTA DNA is used for the template, an oligonucleotide encoding the first desired amino acid substitution(s) is annealed to this template, and the heteroduplex DNA molecule is then generated. The second round of mutagenesis utilizes the mutated DNA produced in the first round of mutagenesis as the template. Thus, this template already contains one or more mutations. The oligonucleotide encoding the additional desired amino acid substitution(s) is then annealed to this template, and the resulting strand of DNA now encodes mutations from both the first and second rounds of mutagenesis. This resultant DNA can be used as a template in a third round of mutagenesis, and so on.

Transgenic Plants

Transgenic plants can be obtained, for example, by transferring transgenic vectors (e.g. plasmids, virus etc.) that encode REVOLUTA into a plant. Preferably, when the vector is a plasmid the vector also includes a selectable marker gene, e.g., the kan gene encoding resistance to kanamycin. The most common method of plant transformation is performed by cloning a target transgene into a plant transformation vector that is then transformed into Agrobacterium tumifaciens containing a helper Ti-plasmid as described in Hoeckema et al., (1983 Nature 303:179–181). The Agrobacterium cells containing the transgene vector are incubated with leaf slices of the plant to be transformed as described by An et al., 1986 Plant Physiology 81:301–305 (See also Hooykaas, 1989 Plant Mol. Biol. 13:327–336). Transformation of cultured plant host cells is normally accomplished through Agrobacterium tumifaciens, as described above. Cultures of host cells that do not have rigid cell membrane barriers are usually transformed using the calcium phosphate method as originally described by Graham et al. (1978 Virology 52:546) and modified as described in sections 16.32–16.37 of Sambrook et al., supra. However, other methods for introducing DNA into cells such as Polybrene (Kawai et al., 1984 Mol. Cell. Biol. 4:1172), protoplast fusion (Schaffner, 1980 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:2163), electroporation (Neumann et al., 1982 EMBO J. 1:841), and direct microinjection into nuclei (Capecchi, 1980 Cell 22:479) may also be used. Transformed plant calli may be selected through the selectable marker by growing the cells on a medium containing, e.g., kanamycin, and appropriate amounts of phytohormone such as naphthalene acetic acid and benzyladenine for callus and shoot induction. The plant cells may then be regenerated and the resulting plants transferred to soil using techniques well known to those skilled in the art.

In addition to the methods described above, a large number of methods are known in the art for transferring cloned DNA into a wide variety of plant species, including gymnosperms, angiosperms, monocots and dicots (see, e.g., Glick and Thompson, eds., 1993 Methods in Plant Molecular Biology, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.; Vasil, 1994 Plant Mol. Biol. 25:925–937; and Komari et al., 1998 Current Opinions Plant Biol. 1:161–165 (general reviews); Loopstra et al., 1990 Plant Mol. Biol. 15:1–9 and Brasileiro et al., 1991 Plant Mol. Biol. 17:441–452 (transformation of trees); Eimert et al., 1992 Plant Mol. Biol. 19:485–490 (transformation of Brassica); Hiei et al., 1994 Plant J. 6:271–282; Hiei et al., 1997 Plant Mol. Biol. 35:205–218; Chan et al., 1993 Plant Mol. Biol. 22:491–506; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,516,668 and 5,824,857 (rice transformation); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,362 (wheat transformation); 5,969,213 (monocot transformation); 5,780,798 (corn transformation); 5,959,179 and 5,914,451 (soybean transformation). Representative examples include electroporation-facilitated DNA uptake by protoplasts (Rhodes et al., 1988 Science 240(4849):204–207; Bates, 1999 Methods Mol. Biol. 111:359–366; D'Halluin et al., 1999 Methods Mol. Biol. 111:367–373; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,451); treatment of protoplasts with polyethylene glycol (Lyznik et al., 1989 Plant Molecular Biology 13:151–161; Datta et al., 1999 Methods Mol. Biol., 111:335–34); and bombardment of cells with DNA laden microprojectiles (Klein et al., 1989 Plant Physiol. 91:440–444; Boynton et al., 1988 Science 240(4858):1534–1538; Register et al., 1994 Plant Mol. Biol. 25:951–961; Barcelo et al., 1994 Plant J. 5:583–592; Vasil et al., 1999 Methods Mol. Biol., 111:349–358; Christou, 1997 Plant Mol. Biol. 35:197–203; Finer et al., 1999 Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 240:59–80). Additionally, plant transformation strategies and techniques are reviewed in Birch, R. G., 1997 Ann Rev Plant Phys Plant Mol Biol 48:297; Forester et al., 1997 Exp. Agric. 33:15–33. Minor variations make these technologies applicable to a broad range of plant species.

In the case of monocot transformation, particle bombardment appears to be the method of choice for most commercial and university laboratories. However, monocots such as maize can also be transformed by using Agrobacterium transformation methods as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616 to Hiei et al, issued Jan. 7, 1997 “Method for transforming monocotyledons.” Another method to effect corn transformation mixes cells from embryogenic suspension cultures with a suspension of fibers (5% w/v, Silar SC-9 whiskers) and plasmid DNA (1 μg/ul) and then placed either upright in a multiple sample head on a Vortex Genie II vortex mixer (Scientific Industries, Inc., Bohemia, NY, USA) or horizontally in the holder of a Mixomat dental amalgam mixer (Degussa Canada Ltd., Burlington, Ontario, Canada). Transformation is then carried out by mixing at full speed for 60 seconds (Vortex Genie II) or shaking at fixed speed for 1 second (Mixomat). This process results in the production of cell populations out of which stable transformants can be selected. Plants are regenerated from the stably transformed calluses and these plants and their progeny can be shown by Southern hybridization analysis to be transgenic. The principal advantages of the approach are its simplicity and low cost. Unlike particle bombardment, expensive equipment and supplies are not required. The use of whiskers for the transformation of plant cells, particularly maize, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,765 to Coffee et al, issued Nov. 7, 1995 “Transformation of plant cells.”

U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,830 to Dan et al published Oct. 19, 1999 “Soybean transformation and regeneration methods” describes methods of transforming and regenerating soybean. U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,215 to Hall et al, issued Oct. 19, 1999, describes transformation techniques for producing transformed Beta vulgaris plants, such as the sugar beet.

Each of the above transformation techniques has advantages and disadvantages. In each of the techniques, DNA from a plasmid is genetically engineered such that it contains not only the gene of interest, but also selectable and screenable marker genes. A selectable marker gene is used to select only those cells that have integrated copies of the plasmid (the construction is such that the gene of interest and the selectable and screenable genes are transferred as a unit). The screenable gene provides another check for the successful culturing of only those cells carrying the genes of interest.

Traditional Agrobacterium transformation with antibiotic resistance selectable markers is problematical because of public opposition that such plants pose an undue risk of spreading anibiotic tolerance to animals and humans. Such antibiotic markers can be eliminated from plants by transforming plants using the Agrobacterium techniques similar to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,179 to Komari et al, issued Mar. 24, 1998 “Method for introducing two T-DNAS into plants and vectors therefor.” Antibiotic resistance issues can also be effectively avoided by the use of bar or pat coding sequences, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,135, issued Jan. 27, 1998 “Process for transforming monocotyledonous plants.” These preferred marker DNAs encode second proteins or polypeptides inhibiting or neutralizing the action of glutamine synthetase inhibitor herbicides phosphinothricin (glufosinate) and glufosinate ammonium salt (Basta, Ignite).

The plasmid containing one or more of these genes is introduced into either plant protoplasts or callus cells by any of the previously mentioned techniques. If the marker gene is a selectable gene, only those cells that have incorporated the DNA package survive under selection with the appropriate phytotoxic agent. Once the appropriate cells are identified and propagated, plants are regenerated. Progeny from the transformed plants must be tested to insure that the DNA package has been successfully integrated into the plant genome.

There are numerous factors which influence the success of transformation. The design and construction of the exogenous gene construct and its regulatory elements influence the integration of the exogenous sequence into the chromosomal DNA of the plant nucleus and the ability of the transgene to be expressed by the cell. A suitable method for introducing the exogenous gene construct into the plant cell nucleus in a non-lethal manner is essential. Importantly, the type of cell into which the construct is introduced must, if whole plants are to be recovered, be of a type which is amenable to regeneration, given an appropriate regeneration protocol.

Prokaryotes may also be used as host cells for the initial cloning steps of this invention. They are particularly useful for rapid production of large amounts of DNA, for production of single-stranded DNA templates used for site-directed mutagenesis, for screening many mutants simultaneously, and for DNA sequencing of the mutants generated. Suitable prokaryotic host cells include E. coli K12 strain 94 (ATCC No. 31,446), E. coli strain W3110 (ATCC No. 27,325) E. coli X1776 (ATCC No. 31,537), and E. coli B; however many other strains of E. coli, such as HB101, JM101, NM522, NM538, NM539, and many other species and genera of prokaryotes including bacilli such as Bacillus subtilis, other enterobacteriaceae such as Salmonella typhimurium or Serratia marcesans, and various Pseudomonas species may all be used as hosts. Prokaryotic host cells or other host cells with rigid cell walls are preferably transformed using the calcium chloride method as described in section 1.82 of Sambrook et al., supra. Alternatively, electroporation may be used for transformation of these cells. Prokaryote transformation techniques are set forth in Dower, W. J., in Genetic Engineering, Principles and Methods, 12:275–296, Plenum Publishing Corp., 1990; Hanahan et al., 1991 Meth. Enxymol., 204:63.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, any plasmid vector containing replicon and control sequences that are derived from species compatible with the host cell may also be used in the practice of the invention. The vector usually has a replication site, marker genes that provide phenotypic selection in transformed cells, one or more promoters, and a polylinker region containing several restriction sites for insertion of foreign DNA. Plasmids typically used for transformation of E. coli include pBR322, pUC18, pUC19, pUC118, pUC119, and Bluescript M13, all of which are described in sections 1.12–1.20 of Sambrook et al., supra. However, many other suitable vectors are available as well. These vectors contain genes coding for ampicillin and/or tetracycline resistance which enables cells transformed with these vectors to grow in the presence of these antibiotics.

The promoters most commonly used in prokaryotic vectors include the β-lactamase (penicillinase) and lactose promoter systems (Chang et al. 1978 Nature 375:615; Itakura et al., 1977 Science 198:1056; Goeddel et al., 1979 Nature 281:544) and a tryptophan (trp) promoter system (Goeddel et al., 1980 Nuc. Acids Res. 8:4057; EPO Appl. Publ. No. 36,776), and the alkaline phosphatase systems. While these are the most commonly used, other microbial promoters have been utilized, and details concerning their nucleotide sequences have been published, enabling a skilled worker to ligate them functionally into plasmid vectors (see Siebenlist et al., 1980 Cell 20:269).

Many eukaryotic proteins normally secreted from the cell contain an endogenous secretion signal sequence as part of the amino acid sequence. Thus, proteins normally found in the cytoplasm can be targeted for secretion by linking a signal sequence to the protein. This is readily accomplished by ligating DNA encoding a signal sequence to the 5′ end of the DNA encoding the protein and then expressing this fusion protein in an appropriate host cell. The DNA encoding the signal sequence may be obtained as a restriction fragment from any gene encoding a protein with a signal sequence. Thus, prokaryotic, yeast, and eukaryotic signal sequences may be used herein, depending on the type of host cell utilized to practice the invention. The DNA and amino acid sequence encoding the signal sequence portion of several eukaryotic genes including, for example, human growth hormone, proinsulin, and proalbumin are known (see Stryer, 1988 Biochemistry W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, N.Y., p. 769), and can be used as signal sequences in appropriate eukaryotic host cells. Yeast signal sequences, as for example acid phosphatase (Arima et al., 1983 Nuc. Acids Res. 11:1657), α-factor, alkaline phosphatase and invertase may be used to direct secretion from yeast host cells. Prokaryotic signal sequences' from genes encoding, for example, LamB or OmpF (Wong et al., 1988 Gene 68:193), MalE, PhoA, or beta-lactamase, as well as other genes, may be used to target proteins expressed in prokaryotic cells into the culture medium.

The construction of suitable vectors containing DNA encoding replication sequences, regulatory sequences, phenotypic selection genes and the REVOLUTA DNA of interest are prepared using standard recombinant DNA procedures. Isolated plasmids, viruse vectors and DNA fragments are cleaved, tailored, and ligated together in a specific order to generate the desired vectors, as is well known in the art (see, for example, Maniatis, supra, and Sambrook et al., supra).

As discussed above, REVOLUTA variants are produced by means of mutation(s) that are generated using the method of site-specific mutagenesis. This method requires the synthesis and use of specific oligonucleotides that encode both the sequence of the desired mutation and a sufficient number of adjacent nucleotides to allow the oligonucleotide to stably hybridize to the DNA template.

The present invention comprises compositions and methods for modulating plant cell division. A wide variety of transgenic vectors containing a REVOLUTA derived polynucleotide can be used to practice the present invention. When the REVOLUTA transgenes of the present invention are introduced into plants and expressed either a RNA or RNA and then protein, plant cell division is modulated. Provided below are examples of a number of different ways in which a REVOLUTA transgene may be used to increase or decrease the amount of REVOLUTA protein within a transgenic plant. The altered REVOLUTA protein levels may occur throughout the plant or in a tissue or organ specific manner depending upon the type of promoter sequence operably linked to the REVOLUTA transgene.

The present invention also provides a transgenic plant comprising a chimeric plant gene having a promoter sequence that functions in plant cells; a coding sequence which causes the production of RNA encoding a fusion polypeptide or an RNA that causes homologous gene suppression such that expression of the chimeric plant gene modulates plant growth. The chimeric plant gene also has a 3′ non-translated region immediately adjacent to the 3′ end of the gene that encodes a polyadenylation signal. The polyadenylation signal functions in plant cells to cause the addition of polyadenylate nucleotides to the 3′ end of the RNA. The 5′ promoter sequence used to transcriptionally activate the chimeric plant gene is a promoter that is heterologous with respect to the coding sequence and adapted to cause sufficient expression of the chimeric gene to modulate plant growth of a plant transformed with the gene.

Inhibition of REVOLUTA Gene Expression

A number of methods can be used to inhibit gene expression in plants. For instance, antisense RNA technology can be conveniently used. The successful implementation of anti-sense RNA in developmental systems to inhibit the expression of unwanted genes has previously been demonstrated (Van der Krol et al., 1990 Plant Mol. Biol. 14:457; Visser et al., 1991, Mol. Gen. Genet. 225:289; Hamilton et al., 1990, Nature 346:284; Stockhaus et al., 1990, EMBO J. 9:3013; Hudson et al., 1992, Plant Physiol. 98:294; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,801,340, 5,773,692, 5,723,761, and 5,959,180). For example, polygalacturonase is responsible for fruit softening during the latter stages of ripening in tomato (Hiatt et al., 1989 in Genetic Engineering, Setlow, ed. p. 49; Sheehy et al., 1988, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:8805; Smith et al., 1988, Nature 334:724). The integration of anti-sense constructs into the genome, under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter, has inhibited this softening. Examination of the polygalacturonase mRNA levels showed a 90% suppression of gene expression.

The anti-sense gene is a DNA sequence produced when a sense gene is inverted relative to its normal presentation for transcription. The “sense” gene refers to the gene which is being targeted for control using the anti-sense technology, in its normal orientation. An anti-sense gene may be constructed in a number of different ways provided that it is capable of interfering with the expression of a sense gene. Preferably, the anti-sense gene is constructed by inverting the coding region of the sense gene relative to its normal presentation for transcription to allow the transcription of its complement, hence the RNAs encoded by the anti-sense and sense gene are complementary. It is understood that a portion of the anti-sense gene incorporated into an anti-sense construct, of the present invention, may be sufficient to effectively interfere with the expression of a sense gene and thus the term “anti-sense gene” used herein encompasses any functional portion of the full length anti-sense gene. By the term “functional” it is meant to include a portion of the anti-sense gene which is effective in interfering with the expression of the sense gene.

The nucleic acid segment to be introduced generally will be substantially identical to at least a portion of the endogenous REVOLUTA gene or genes to be repressed. The sequence, however, need not be perfectly identical to inhibit expression. Generally, higher homology can be used to compensate for the use of a shorter REVOLUTA sequence. Furthermore, the introduced REVOLUTA sequence need not have the same intron or exon pattern, and homology of non-coding segments may be equally effective. Normally, a sequence of between about 25 or 40 nucleotides and about the full length REVOLUTA gene sequence should be used, though a sequence of at least about 100 nucleotides is preferred, a sequence of at least about 200 nucleotides is more preferred, and a sequence of at least about 500 nucleotides is especially preferred. The construct is then transformed into plants and the antisense strand of RNA is produced.

Catalytic RNA molecules or ribozymes can also be used to inhibit expression of REVOLUTA genes. It is possible to design ribozyme transgenes that encode RNA ribozymes that specifically pair with virtually any target RNA and cleave the phosphodiester backbone at a specific location, thereby functionally inactivating the target RNA. In carrying out this cleavage, the ribozyme is not itself altered, and is thus capable of recycling and cleaving other molecules, making it a true enzyme. The inclusion of ribozyme sequences within antisense RNAs confers RNA-cleaving activity upon them, thereby increasing the activity of the constructs.

One class of ribozymes is derived from a number of small circular RNAs which are capable of self-cleavage and replication in plants. The RNAs replicate either alone (viroid RNAs) or with a helper virus (satellite RNAs). Examples include RNAs from avocado sunblotch viroid and the satellite RNAs from tobacco ringspot virus, luceme transient streak virus, velvet tobacco mottle virus, solanum nodiflorum mottle virus and subterranean clover mottle virus. The design and use of target RNA-specific ribozymes is described in Haseloff et al. (1988 Nature, 334:585–591)(see also U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,023). Tabler et al. (1991, Gene 108:175) have greatly simplified the construction of catalytic RNAs by combining the advantages of the anti-sense RNA and the ribozyme technologies in a single construct. Smaller regions of homology are required for ribozyme catalysis, therefore this can promote the repression of different members of a large gene family if the cleavage sites are conserved. Together, these results point to the feasibility of utilizing anti-sense RNA and/or ribozymes as practical means of manipulating the composition of valuable crops.

Another method of suppressing REVOLUTA protein expression is sense suppression. Introduction of nucleic acid configured in the sense orientation has been recently shown to be an effective means by which to block the transcription of target genes. For an example of the use of this method to modulate expression of endogenous genes see, Napoli et al. (1990 Plant Cell 2:279–289), Hamilton et al. (1999 Science 286:950–952), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,034,323, 5,231,020, 5,283,184 and 5,942,657.

More recently, a new method of suppressing the expression of a target gene has been developed. This method involves the introduction into a host cell of an inverted repeat transgene that directs the production of a mRNA that self-anneal to form double stranded (ds) RNA structures (Vionnet et al., 1998 Cell 95:177–187; Waterhouse et al., 1998 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:13959–13964; Misquitta et al., 1999 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:1451–1456; Baulcombe, 1999 Current Opinion Plant Biol. 2:109–113; Sharp, 1999 Genes and Develop. 13:139–141). The ds RNA molecules, in a manner not understood, interfere with the post transcriptional expression of endogenous genes that are homologous to the dsRNA. It has been shown that the region of dsRNA homology must contain region that is homologous to an exon portion of the target gene. Thus, the dsRNA may include sequences that are homologous to noncoding portions of the target gene. Alternatively, gene suppressive dsRNA could also be produce by transform a cell with two different transgenes, one expressing a sense RNA and the other a complementary antisense RNA.

A construct containing an inverted repeat of a REVOLUTA transcribed sequence is made by following the general example of Waterhouse et al.(1998). The inverted repeat part of the construct comprises about 200 to 1500 bp of transcribed DNA repeated in a head to head or tail to tail arrangement. The repeats are separated by about 200 to 1500 bp of non-repeated DNA which can also be part of the transcribed REVOLUTA region, or can be from a different gene, and perhaps contain an intron. A suitable REVOLUTA suppressor transgene construct is made by attaching in the proper order: a plant promoter; a 3′ region from a REVOLUTA cDNA oriented in a proper “sense” orientation; a 5′ region from the cDNA; the same 3′ region of REVOLUTA coding sequence from the cDNA but oriented in “anti-sense” orientation; and finally a polyA addition signal. Whatever the order chosen, the transcribed REVOLUTA RNA resulting from introduction of the inverted repeat transgene into a target plant will have the potential of forming an internal dsRNA region containing sequences from the REVOLUTA targent gene that is to be suppressed. The dsRNA sequences are chosen to suppress a single or perhaps multiple REVOLUTA genes. In some cases, the sequences with the potential for dsRNA formation may originate from two or more REVOLUTA genes.

An additional strategy suitable for suppression of REVOLUTA activity entails the sense expression of a mutated or partially deleted form of REVOLUTA protein according to general criteria for the production of dominant negative mutations (Herskowitz 1,1987, Nature 329:219–222). The REV protein is mutated in the DNA binding motif of the homeodomain, or in such a way to produce a truncated REV protein. Examples of strategies that produced dominant negative mutations are provided (Mizukami, 1996; Emmler, 1995; Sheen, 1998; and Paz-Ares, 1990).

Generally, where inhibition of expression is desired, some transcription of the introduced sequence occurs. The effect may occur where the introduced sequence contains no coding sequence per se, but only intron or untranslated sequences homologous to sequences present in the primary transcript of the endogenous sequence. The introduced sequence generally will be substantially identical to the endogenous sequence intended to be repressed. This minimal identity will typically be greater than about 65%, but a higher identity might exert a more effective repression of expression of the endogenous sequences. Substantially greater identity of more than about 80% is preferred, though about 95% to absolute identity would be most preferred. As with antisense regulation, the effect should apply to any other proteins within a similar family of genes exhibiting homology or substantial homology.

For sense suppression, the introduced sequence, needing less than absolute identity, also need not be full length, relative to either the primary transcription product or fully processed mRNA. This may be preferred to avoid concurrent production of some plants which are overexpressers. A higher identity in a shorter than full length sequence may compensate for a longer, less identical sequence. Furthermore, the introduced sequence need not have the same intron or exon pattern, and identity of non-coding segments will be equally effective. Normally, a sequence of the size ranges noted above for antisense regulation is used.

Wild-type REVOLUTA gene function can also be eliminated or diminished by using DNA regions flanking the REVOLUTA gene to target an insertional disruption of the REVOLUTA coding sequence (Miao et al., 1995; Plant J 7:359–365; Kempin et al., 1997 Nature 389:802–803). The targeted gene replacement of REVOLUTA is mediated by homologous recombination between sequences in a transformation vector that are from DNA regions flanking the REV gene and the corresponding chromosomal sequences. A selectable marker, such as kanamycin, bar or pat, or a screenable marker, such as beta-glucuronidase (GUS), is included in between the REV flanking regions. These markers facilitate the identification of cells that have undergone REV gene replacement. Plants in which successful REVOLUTA gene replacement has occurred can also be identified because plant tissues have an altered number of cell.

Promoters

An illustrative example of a responsive promoter system that can be used in the practice of this invention is the glutathione-S-transferase (GST) system in maize. GSTs are a family of enzymes that can detoxify a number of hydrophobic electrophilic compounds that often are used as pre-emergent herbicides (Weigand et al., 1986 Plant Molecular Biology 7:235–243). Studies have shown that the GSTs are directly involved in causing this enhanced herbicide tolerance. This action is primarily mediated through a specific 1.1 kb mRNA transcription product. In short, maize has a naturally occurring quiescent gene already present that can respond to external stimuli and that can be induced to produce a gene product. This gene has previously been identified and cloned. Thus, in one embodiment of this invention, the promoter is removed from the GST responsive gene and attached to a REVOLUTA coding sequence. If the REVOLUTA gene is derived from a genomic DNA source than it is necessary to remove the native promoter during construction of the chimeric gene. This engineered gene is the combination of a promoter that responds to an external chemical stimulus and a gene responsible for successful production of REVOLUTA protein.

An inducible promoter is a promoter that is capable of directly or indirectly activating transcription of one or more DNA sequences or genes in response to an inducer. In the absence of an inducer the DNA sequences or genes will not be transcribed. Typically the protein factor, that binds specifically to an inducible promoter to activate transcription, is present in an inactive form which is then directly or indirectly converted to the active form by the inducer. The inducer can be a chemical agent such as a protein, metabolite, a growth regulator, herbicide or a phenolic compound or a physiological stress imposed directly by heat, cold, salt, or toxic elements or indirectly through the action of a pathogen or disease agent such as a virus. A plant cell containing an inducible promoter may be exposed to an inducer by externally applying the inducer to the cell or plant such as by spraying, watering, heating or similar methods. If it is desirable to activate the expression of the target gene to a particular time during plant development, the inducer can be so applied at that time.

Examples of such inducible promoters include heat shock promoters, such as the inducible 70 KD heat shock promoter of Drosphilia melanogaster (Freeling et al., Ann. Rev. of Genetics, 19:297–323); a cold inducible promoter, such as the cold inducible promoter from B. napus (White, et al., 1994 Plant Physiol. 106); and the alcohol dehydrogenase promoter which is induced by ethanol (Nagao, R. T. et al., Miflin, B. J., Ed. Oxford Surveys of Plant Molecular and Cell Biology 1986 Vol. 3, p 384–438, Oxford University Press, Oxford).

Alternatively, the REVOLUTA transgenes of the present invention can be expressed using a promoter such as is the BCE.4 (B. campestris embryo) promoter which has been shown to direct high levels of expression in very early seed development (i.e. is transcribed before the napin promoter). This is a period prior to storage product accumulation but of rapid pigment biosynthesis in the Brassica seed (derived from Johnson-Flanagan et al., 1989 J. Plant Physiol. 136:180; Johnson-Flanagan et al., 1991 Physiol. Plant 81:301). Seed storage protein promoters have also been shown to direct a high level of expression in a seed-specific manner (Voelker et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:95; Altenbach et al., 1989 Plant Mol. Biol. 13:513; Lee et al., 1991, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 99:6181; Russell et al., 1997 Transgenic Res 6:157–68). The napin promoter has been shown to direct oleosin gene expression in transgenic Brassica, such that oleosin accumulates to approximately 1% of the total seed protein (Lee et al., 1991 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 99:6181). Table 2 lists other embryo specific promoters that can be used to practice the present invention.

TABLE 2 Embryo Specific Promoters Promoter Embryo Endosperm Timing Reference oleosin strong, none traces at Al et al. 1994 from uniform heart, higher Plant Mol. Arabidopsis early- to Biol. late- 25:193–205. cotyledonary stage USP from strong, none early not Baumlein Vicia faba uniform known, et al. 1991 strong in Mol. Gen. late cot., Genet. 225:459–467. Legumin strong, aleurone early not Baumlein from preferential layer known, et al. 1991. Vicia faba in cotyledons (late) strong in late cot., Napin from ? late Kohno-Murase Brassica 1994 Plant Mol. Biol. 26:1115–1124 Albumin in axis only none early- to Guerche et al., S1 from late- 1990 Plant Cell Arabidopsis cotyledonary 2:469–478. stage Albumin in axis and none early- to Guerche et al., S2 cotyledons late- 1990. cotyledonary stage

In choosing a promoter it may be desirable to use a tissue-specific or developmentally regulated promoter that allows suppression or overexpression of in certain tissues without affecting expression in other tissues. “Tissue specific promoters” refer to coding region that direct gene expression primarily in specific tissues such as roots, leaves, stems, pistils, anthers, flower petals, seed coat, seed nucellus or epidermal layers. Transcription stimulators, enhancers or activators may be integrated into tissue specific promoters to create a promoter with a high level of activity that retains tissue specificity. For instance, promoters utilized in overexpression will preferably be tissue-specific. Overexpression in the wrong tissue, such as leaves when attempting to overexpress in seed storage areas, could be deleterious. Preferred expression cassettes of the invention will generally include, but are not limited to, a seed-specific promoter. A seed specific promoter is used in order to ensure subsequent expression in the seeds only.

Examples of seed-specific promoters include the 5′ regulatory regions of an Arabidopsis oleosin gene as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,436 to Thomas et al issued Nov. 2, 1999 “Oleosin 5′ regulatory region for the modification of plant seed lipid composition” (incorporated in its entirety by reference), which when operably linked to either the coding sequence of a heterologous gene or sequence complementary to a native plant gene, direct expression of the heterologous gene or complementary sequence in a plant seed.

Examples also include promoters of seed storage proteins which express these proteins in seeds in a highly regulated manner such as, for dicotyledonous plants, phaseolin (bean cotyledon) (Sengupta-Gopalan, et al., 1985 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82:3320–3324), a napin promoter, a conglycinin promoter, and a soybean lectin promoter, patatin (potato tubers) (Rocha-Sosa, et al., 1989 EMBO J. 8:23–29), convicilin, vicilin, and legumin (pea cotyledons) (Rerie, et al., 1991 Mol. Gen. Genet. 259:148–157; Newbigin, et al., 1990 Planta 180:461470; Higgins, et al., 1988 Plant Mol. Biol. 11:683–695), phytohemagglutinin (bean cotyledon) (Voelker, et al. 1987 EMBO J. 6:3571–3577), conglycinin and glycinin (soybean cotyledon)(Chen, et al. 1988 EMBO J. 7: 297–302), and sporamin (sweet potato tuberous root) (Hattori, et al., 1990 Plant Mol. Biol. 14:595–604). For monocotyledonous plants, promoters useful in the practice of the invention include, but are not limited to, maize zein promoters (Schernthaner, et al., (1988) EMBO J. 7:1249–1255), a zein promoter, a waxy promoter, a shrunken-1 promoter, a globulin 1 promoter, and the shrunken-2 promoter, glutelin (rice endosperm), hordein (barley endosperm) (Marris, et al. 1988 Plant Mol. Biol. 10:359–366), glutenin and gliadin (wheat endosperm) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,558). Differential screening techniques can be used to isolate promoters expressed at specific (developmental) times, such as during fruit development. However, other promoters useful in the practice of the invention are known to those of skill in the art.

Particularly preferred promoters are those that allow seed-specific expression. This may be especially useful since seeds are a primary organ of interest, and also since seed-specific expression will avoid any potential deleterious effect in non-seed tissues. Examples of seed-specific promoters include, but are not limited to, the promoters of seed storage proteins, which can represent up to 90% of total seed protein in many plants. The seed storage proteins are strictly regulated, being expressed almost exclusively in seeds in a highly tissue-specific and stage-specific manner (Higgins et al., 1984 Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 35:191–221; Goldberg et al., 1989 Cell 56:149–160). Moreover, different seed storage proteins may be expressed at different stages of seed development. Expression of seed-specific genes has been studied in great detail (see reviews by Goldberg et al. (1989) and Higgins et al. (1984). There are currently numerous examples of seed-specific expression of seed storage protein genes in transgenic dicotyledonous plants. These include genes from dicotyledonous plants for bean β-phaseolin (Sengupta-Gopalan et al., 1985; Hoffman et al., 1988 Plant Mol. Biol. 11:717–729), bean lectin (Voelker et al., 1987), soybean lectin (Okamuro et al., 1986 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:8240–8244), soybean Kunitz trypsin inhibitor (Perez-Grau et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:095–1109), soybean β-conglycinin (Beachy et al., 1985 EMBO J. 4:3047–3053; pea vicilin (Higgins et al., 1988), pea convicilin (Newbigin et al., 1990 Planta 180:461–470), pea legumin (Shirsat et al., 1989 Mol. Gen. Genetics 215:326–331); rapeseed napin (Radke et al., 1988 Theor. Appl. Genet. 75:685–694) as well as genes from monocotyledonous plants such as for maize 15 kD zein (Hoffman et al., 1987 EMBO J. 6:3213–3221), maize 18 kD oleosin (Lee et al., 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 888:6181–6185), barley β-hordein (Marris et al., 1988 Plant Mol. Biol. 10:359–366) and wheat glutenin (Colot et al., 1987 EMBO J. 6:3559–3564). Moreover, promoters of seed-specific genes operably linked to heterologous coding sequences in chimeric gene constructs also maintain their temporal and spatial expression pattern in transgenic plants. Such examples include use of Arabidopsis thaliana 2S seed storage protein gene promoter to express enkephalin peptides in Arabidopsis and B. napus seeds (Vandekerckhove et al., 1989 Bio/Technology 7:929–932), bean lectin and bean β-phaseolin promoters to express luciferase (Riggs et al., 1989 Plant Sci. 63:47–57), and wheat glutenin promoters to express chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (Colot et al., 1987).

Also suitable for the expression of the nucleic acid fragment of the invention will be the heterologous promoters from several soybean seed storage protein genes such as those for the Kunitz trypsin inhibitor (Jofuku et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:1079–1093; glycinin (Nielson et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:313–328), and P-conglycinin (Harada et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:415–425); promoters of genes for α- and β-subunits of soybean β-conglycinin storage protein for expressing the mRNA or the antisense RNA in the cotyledons at mid- to late-stages of seed development (Beachy et al., 1985 EMBO J. 4:3047–3053) in transgenic plants; B. napus isocitrate lyase and malate synthase (Comai et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:293–300), delta-9 desaturase from safflower (Thompson et al. 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:2578–2582) and castor (Shanklin et al., 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:2510–2514), acyl carrier protein (ACP) from Arabidopsis (Post-Beittenmiller et al., 1989 Nucl. Acids Res. 17:1777), B. napus (Safford et al., 1988 Eur. J. Biochem. 174:287–295), and B. campestris (Rose et al., 1987 Nucl. Acids Res. 15:7197), β-ketoacyl-ACP synthetase from barley (Siggaard-Andersen et al., 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:4114–4118), and oleosin from Zea mays (Lee et al., 1991 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:6181–6185), soybean (Genbank Accession No: X60773) and B. napus (Lee et al., 1991 Plant Physiol. 96:1395–1397).

Attaining the proper level of expression of the nucleic acid fragments of the invention may require the use of different chimeric genes utilizing different promoters. Such chimeric genes can be transferred into host plants either together in a single expression vector or sequentially using more than one vector.

On the other hand, pollen specific promoter—i.e., promoters regulating temporal expression at a time prior to or soon after pollination so that fruit development and maturation is induced without significant seed development—are usually undesirable. Such undesired promoters include but are not limited to inducible promoters, microspore or megaspore promoters, pollen specific promoters, or maternal tissue promoters such as seed coat promoters or any other promoter associated with a gene involved in pollination or ovule maturation or development.

In addition, enhancers are often required or helpful to increase expression of the gene of the invention. It is necessary that these elements be operably linked to the sequence that encodes the desired proteins and that the regulatory elements are operable. Enhancers or enhancer-like elements may be either the native or chimeric nucleic acid fragments. This would include viral enhancers such as that found in the 35S promoter (Odell et al., 1988 Plant Mol. Biol. 10:263–272), enhancers from the opine genes (Fromm et al., 1989 Plant Cell 1:977–984), or enhancers from any other source that result in increased transcription when placed into a promoter operably linked to the nucleic acid fragment of the invention. For example, a construct may include the CaMV 35S promoter with dual transcriptional enhancer linked to the Tobacco Etch Virus (TEV) 5′ nontranslated leader. The TEV leader acts as a translational enhancer to increase the amount of protein made.

The promoter elements described in Table 2 can be fused to the REVOLUTA sequences and a suitable terminator (polyadenylation region) according to well established procedure. Promoters specific for different tissue types are already available or can be isolated by well-established techniques (see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,792,925; 5,783,393; 5,859,336; 5,866,793; 5,898,096; and 5,929,302).

“Digestion”, “cutting” or “cleaving” of DNA refers to catalytic cleavage of the DNA with an enzyme that acts only at particular locations in the DNA. These enzymes are called restriction endonucleases, and the site along the DNA sequence where each enzyme cleaves is called a restriction site. The restriction enzymes used in this invention are commercially available and are used according to the instructions supplied by the manufacturers. (See also sections 1.60–1.61 and sections 3.38–3.39 of Sambrook et al., supra.)

“Recovery” or “isolation” of a given fragment of DNA from a restriction digest means separation of the resulting DNA fragment on a polyacrylamide or an agarose gel by electrophoresis, identification of the fragment of interest by comparison of its mobility versus that of marker DNA fragments of known molecular weight, removal of the gel section containing the desired fragment, and separation of the gel from DNA. This procedure is known generally. For example, see Lawn et al. (1982 Nucleic Acids Res. 9:6103–6114), and Goeddel et al. (1980).

The foregoing may be more fully understood in connection with the following representative examples, in which “Plasmids” are designated by a lower case p followed by an alphanumeric designation. The starting plasmids used in this invention are either commercially available, publicly available on an unrestricted basis, or can be constructed from such available plasmids using published procedures. In addition, other equivalent plasmids are known in the art and will be apparent to the ordinary artisan. The following examples are in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but rather only illustrate the many possible ways of practicing the invention.

EXAMPLE 1 Identification of REVOLUTA

Mapping the REVOLUTA Gene Using Polymorphic DNA Markers

To map a gene using small differences or polymorphisms in the DNA, a segregating population of Arabidopsis derived from two different ecotypes was screened. To generate this segregating population, a homozygous plant containing mutations in the revoluta gene (rev-1) of the Nossen (No) ecotype was crossed to a wild-type plant of the Landsberg erecta (Ler) ecotype. In the resulting F1 progeny, one chromosome of each pair was of the No ecotype, and the other was of the Ler ecotype. All the F1 progeny contained the rev-1 mutation from the No parent and a wild-type REVOLUTA gene from the Ler parent. One of these F1 progeny (called 21A) was allowed to self-fertilize and to produce F2 seeds in which recombination between the No and Ler chromosomes would have occurred. The F2 Plants grown from these seeds were segregating for the different polymorphisms or markers and for the rev-1 mutation.

In order to detect polymorphisms between the different ecotypes, a technique called simple sequence length polymorphisms (SSLP) was used (Bell et al., 1994 Genomics 19:137–144). SSLP markers are a set of two primers that amplify a specific region of genomic DNA in a PCR reaction (polymerase chain reaction). The size of the genomic DNA amplified can vary in specific regions between different Arabidopsis ecotypes. This allows a determination of the region as being from the Ler or No ecotypes. Two SSLP markers, ngal29 and MBK5, had already been identified in the region of chromosome 5 determined to contain the REVOLUTA gene (Talbert, et al., 1995). The ngal29 primers (Table 3) amplify a 179 basepair (bp) fragment from the Ler ecotype and a 165 bp fragment from the No ecotype (Bell et al., 1994). The MBK5 primers were known to amplify an ˜180 bp fragment from the Ler ecotype (http://genome.bio.upenn.edu/SSLP_info/coming-soon.html.). Experiments conducted with these primers on No ecotype DNA demonstrated that a ˜207 bp fragment from the No ecotype was amplified with these primers.

Therefore, these SSLP markers were used to screen the segregating population of 21A progeny described above. First, F2 plants homozygous for the rev-1 mutation were identified by morphology (Talbert et al., 1995). Genome DNA was then prepared as follows. Approximately 50 mg of leaf material was ground in a microcentrifuge tube for 10 seconds with a blue pestle (Kontes Glass Co., Vineland, NJ). Then, 100 μl of PEB (100 mM Tris, 8.0, 50 mM EDTA, 0.5M NaCL, 0.7% SDS, and 20 mg/ml freshly added proteinase K) was added and leaf material was ground 20 seconds more. Finally, 325 μl PEB was added and the material ground until no leaf chunks remain (15 seconds.) After heating at 65° C. for 1 hour, 260 μl saturated NaCl was added. The tubes were microfuged for 20 minutes at top speed. The supernatant was transferred to a new tube containing 850 μl of 85% isopropanol. This mixture was centrifuged for 10 minutes and the resulting pellet washed in 70% ethanol. The dried pellet was then resuspended in 200 μl TE buffer, then 133 μl LiCl was added and the tubes stored overnight at 4° C. RNA was pelleted for 10 min at room temperature. The supernatant was transferred into a new tube to which 2 volumes of ethanol was added. After 10 minutes centrifugation, the pellet was air dried and resuspended in 50 μl 10 mM Tris (pH 8.0). For PCR, either 1 μl or 1 μl of a 1:10 dilution of this DNA was used.

Genomic DNA was amplified in a PCR reaction using either the nga 129 primers or the MBK5 primers (Table 3) in 1× Buffer, 2 mM MgCl₂, 0.2 mM dNTPs 0.25 mM oligonucleotide, 2U Taq polymerase (Life Technologies, Inc., Rockville, Md.). The PCR conditions included a 94° C. denaturation step for 3 minutes followed by 35 cycles at 94° C. for 30 seconds, 55° C. for 30 seconds, and 72° C. for 40 seconds. Each experiment included control DNA from No, Ler, and 21A plants. Out of the first 372 chromosomes screened (from 186 plants), 60 chromosomes had a Ler marker, indicating that recombination had occurred between the No chromosome and the Ler chromosome. Of the 360 chromosomes analyzed for MBK5, only 15 had the Ler marker.

Additional rev-1 plants were screened with an SSLP marker ˜3.4 Mb south (towards the telomere) of nga129 F/R called K21L19. This SSLP marker and others were identified using the following protocol. First, a text file of the DNA sequences (FASTA format) was created from the known DNA sequences of chromosome 5 near the region where the rev-1 was mapped. The DNA sequence text file was saved as a text only document in Microsoft Word 98, and used as a database for a search engine. The Arabidopsis database was searched for strings of repetitive DNA such as “GA” or “TA” repeats of at least 12 bp long. Then PCR primers flanking the repetitive region were chosen using a primer program. Primer pairs were chosen to amplify regions of about 150–250 bp in size. These primer pairs were then tested on DNA samples extracted from No, Ler, and 21A plants to determine if any polymorphisms could be detected. Primer pairs that amplified DNA fragments that were polymorphic between the No and Ler ecotypes were used to further map the REVOLUTA gene. These new SSLP markers (see Table 3) were named after the bacterial artificial chromosome clone (BAC) in which they were found (the Arabidopsis genome has been cloned into ˜100 Kb pieces cloned in BACs or other similar vectors, which have been aligned contiguously along the chromosomes). If more than one marker was identified within a BAC, the primer pairs were given additional identification numbers.

TABLE 3 Oligonucleotides used for SSLP Primer Name (SEQ ID NO.) Primer Sequence nga129F 5′ TCAGGAGGAACTAAAGTGAGGG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:13) nga129R 5′ CACACTGAAGATGGTCTTGAGG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:14) MBK5-1 5′ ATCACTGTTGTTTACCATTA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:15) MBK5-2 5′ GAGCATTTCACAGAGACG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:16) K21L19L 5′ CTCCCTCCTTTCCAGACACA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:17) K21L19R 5′ TTCCACCAATTCACTCACCA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:18) MUP24-1 5′ CGTAAAACGTCGTCGTTCATT 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:19) MUP24-2 5′ ATCGCTGGATTGTTTTGGAC 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:20) MAF19L 5′ TTCTAAGAATGTTTTTACCACCAAAA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:21) MAF19R 5′ CCAACTGCGACTGCCAGATA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:22) MUP24-3 5′ TCCGATTGGTCTAAAGTACGA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:23) MUP24-4 5′ TGACCAAGGCCAAACATACT 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:24) MUP24-13 5′ GAAATCTCACCGGACACCAT 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:25) MUP24-14 5′ CGAATCCCCATTCGTCATAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:26) MAE1-1 5′ TTTCCAACAACAAAAGAATATGG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:27) MAE1-2 5′ TGGTATGCGGATATGATCTTT 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:28) MAE1-3 5′ CACTCGTAGCATCCATGTCG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:29) MAE1-4 5′ TCAGATTCAATCGAAAACGAAA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:30) MAE1-5 5′ CCGTGGAGGCTCTACTGAAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:31) MAE1-6 5′ CGTTACCTTTTGGGTGGAAA 3′ (SEQ ID NO.:32)

When DNA from the plants containing ngal29 F/R/rev-1 recombinant chromosomes was screened using K21L19L and K21L19R primers (K21L19 L/R)(Table 3), 6 of the original 60 ngal29 recombinant chromosomes were also recombinant for K21 L19 L/R DNA region. In addition, 350 more chromosomes were analyzed for the K21L19 L/R polymorphic marker in which only 9 were recombinant for K21L19 L/R giving a total of 15 recombinants. The 350 recombinant chromosomes were also analyzed with the MBK5-1 and MBK5-1 PCR primers (MBK5 1/2)(Table 3). Eight new recombinants were identified at the MBK5 locus defined by the MBK5 1/2 primer pair for a total of 23 MBK5 1/2 recombinants. The K21L19 L/R and MBK5 1/2 loci define a region of 1.95 Mb in chromosome 5 of Arabidopsis.

Other SSLP primer/markers were generated in this region, of these the most informative were the primers MUP24-1 and 2 (MUP24 1/2) and MAF19 L and R MAF19 L/R (Table 3, FIG. 1). These markers were used to screen DNA isolated from the K21L19 and MBK5 1/2 recombinant plants. Of the 15 K21L19 L/R recombinants, 3 were recombinant for the MUP24 1/2 marker, and none for the MAF19L/R marker. Of the 23 MBK5 1/2 recombinants, 6 were recombinant for MAF19 L/R, and none for MUP24 1/2. As shown in FIG. 1, these results placed the REVOLUTA gene in between MUP24 1/2 and MAF19 L/R in a region encompassing ˜340 Kb.

New SSLP markers were generated in this region, and used to further define where recombination occurred between the Ler and No (rev-1 containing) chromosomes. The markers are listed in FIG. 2 and include: MUP24 3/4, MUP24 13/14, MAE1 1/2, MAE1 3/4, and MAE1 5/6.

REVOLUTA is Encoded by MUP24.4 and is a New HD-Zip III Subfamily Member

From the above-described mapping results, the smallest chromosome region containing the REVOLUTA gene was approximately 68,000 bp long. An examination of the translated open reading frames in this region revealed about 11 potential genes that could encode REVOLUTA. The MUP24.4—a homeodomain leucine zipper containing protein (HD-Zip) was determined to be the gene of interest. The DNA sequence encoding this HD-Zip protein was determined in DNA isolated from six different revoluta alleles (rev1–6). Genomic DNA from leaves of the different rev alleles was prepared as described above. The MUP24.4 gene was amplified using long distance PCR with the primers in Table 4 and the conditions described in (Henikoff et al., 1998, Genetics 149:307–318) except that denaturation steps were carried out at 94° C. and 20 second extensions were added to each cycle after 10 cycles for a total of 40 cycles of PCR amplification.

TABLE 4 Primers used to amplify MUP24.4 using LD-PCR Primer Name (SEQ ID NO.) Primer Sequence HDAL 5′ AAAATGGAGATGGCGGTGGCTAAC 3′ (SEQ ID NO:33) HDAR 5′ TGTCAATCGAATCACACAAAAGACCA 3′ (SEQ ID NO:34) The resulting PCR products from each revoluta mutant and wild-type REVOLUTA genes were cloned into a TOPO II vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) according to manufacturers instructions except that half the amount suggested for the TOPO vector and PCR products were used.

Plasmids containing inserts were purified using a spin miniprep kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, Calif.), and sequenced using the oligonucleotides listed in Table 5 with the ABI PRISM Big Dye kit (Applied Biosystems, now PE Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) according to manufacturer's instructions.

TABLE 5 Primers used to sequence the HD-Zip protein MUP24.4 Primer Name (SEQ ID NO.) Primer Sequence Rev-1 5′ CAG ACT TTG ATC TGC TTA GGA TC 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 35) Rev-2 5′ TGA GCC TAA GCA GAT CAA AGT C 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 36) Rev-3 5′ ACC GGA AGC TCT CTG CGA TG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 37) Rev-4 5′ TCG CAG AGG AGA CTT TGG CAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 38) Rev-5 5′ GGA GCC TTG AAG TTT TCA CTA TG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 39) Rev-6 5′ GGT ATT TAA TAA GGC CTT GTG ATG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 40) Rev-7 5′ AGA ACC TTT AGC CAA AGA TTA AGC 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 41) Rev-8 5′ AGC ATC GAT CTG AGT GGG CTG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 42) Rev-9 5′ GTA CCG GGA TTG ACG AGA ATG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 43) Rev-10 5′ TGA GGA GCG TGA TCT CAT CAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 44) Rev-11 5′ GCC AGT GTT CAT GTT TGC GAA C 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 45) Rev-12 5′ ATG GCG GTG GCT AAC CAC CGT GAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 46). M13 Forward 5′ GTA AAA CGA CGG CCA G 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 47) M13 Reverse 5′ CAG GAA ACA GCT ATG AC 3′ (SEQ ID NO: 48) Sequence analysis of two independently generated clones per revoluta allele indicate that the REVOLUTA gene sequence [SEQ ID NO:1] is mutated in each of these six revoluta alleles. The observed mutations are found in both putative gene coding sequences (rev-3 [SEQ ID NO:5] and rev-5 [SEQ ID NO:9]) and at putative intron/exon splice junctions (rev-1 [SEQ ID NO:3], rev-2,4 [SEQ ID NO:7] and rev-6 [SEQ ID NO:11]) (See FIG. 3). Thus, DNA sequence analysis identified open reading frames in all six revoluta mutant genes that are capable of expressing a REV HD-Zip protein but the revoluta protein made in each cases has an altered amino acid sequence. The amino acid sequence predicted for the wild-type REVOLUTA protein is shown in FIG. 3 [SEQ ID NO:2] with the mutant amino acids and splice sites indicated. Translation of the rev-4 mutant DNA [SEQ ID NO:7] indicates that the mutation causes a translation frame shift at the beginning of exon 10 that results in a novel eight amino acid carboxy terminal sequence. The rev-4 protein terminates at an out of frame stop codon, thus translation of the rev-4 allele produces a truncated rev-4 polypeptide [SEQ ID NO:8]. SEQ ID NO:1 lists the complete wild-type DNA sequence for the genomic DNA region encoding the REVOLUTA gene. TABLE 6 lists the nucleotide positions mutated in each of the revoluta alleles and the nucleotide change associated with each mutant allele.

TABLE 6 Arabidopsis No-ecotype changes present in revoluta mutant alleles revoluta mutant SEQ ID No.: Base Change Location rev-1 SEQ ID No.:3 G → A nucleotide 2819 rev-2 SEQ ID No.:7 G → A nucleotide 2093 rev-3 SEQ ID No.:5 C → T nucleotide 3252 rev-4 SEQ ID No.:7 G → A nucleotide 2093 rev-5 SEQ ID No.:9 T → C nucleotide 2651 rev-6 SEQ ID No.:11 C → T nucleotide 1962

An alignment of the 842 amino acid REV protein sequence with previously identified members of the HD-Zip class III family is shown in FIG. 4. There was extensive homology between REV and the other four proteins over their entire lengths. REV had 66% identity (78% similarity) to ATHB-9 and ATHB-14, and 61% identity (75% similarity) to ATHB-8. Comparison of REV to F5F19.21 (AAD12689.1), a putative new member of the family identified based on sequence similarity, yielded 64% identity and 77% similarity. F5F19.21 was expressed when analyzed using RT-PCR (not shown) and was represented by multiple Genbank EST database entries. When the N-terminal region of the protein, containing the homeobox and leucine zipper domains, was removed prior to alignment (leaving residues 114–832), the homology between the proteins was still quite high: REV showed 64% identity with ATHB-9 and ATHB-14, 61% with F5F19, and 58% with ATHB-8. Further analysis of the REV protein sequence indicated that it contained a second leucine zipper motif at residues 432 to 453. Amongst the Arabidopsis HD-ZipIII family members known, REV is the only protein that contained a second predicted leucine zipper.

EXAMPLE 2 REVOLUTA Clones and Expression Vectors

A variety of recombinant DNA clones have been made that contain the wild-type REVOLUTA gene isolated from genomic DNA obtained from Arabidopsis Ecotypes Columbia (Co) and Nossen (No) ecotypes. In addition, genomic DNA clones have been obtained from revoluta mutants: rev-1, rev-2, rev-3, rev-4, rev-5 and rev-6. Revoluta mutants rev-1, rev-2, and rev-4 are in the No ecotype background and the rev-3, rev-5, and rev-6 mutants are in Columbia. Overlapping regions of wild-type Columbia Revoluta cDNA were cloned separately into a vector for sequencing. The cDNA sequenced included approximately 350 nucleotides of untranslated 5′ sequence, the entire Revoluta coding region and approximately 400 nucleotides of untranslated 3′ sequence. The wild-type Columbia REV cDNA sequence was in agreement with the predicted spliced nucleotide sequence available on the Kazusa database site.

A region of genomic DNA running from approximately 2.8 kb upstream of the Revoluta coding sequence (5′ untranslated DNA) through 200 bp downstream of the initiating Methionine was amplified by PCR from Columbia genomic DNA and cloned into the pCRII-TOPO vector from Invitrogen (PCR primers used: forward primer (includes BamHI restriction site): 5′ TTGGATCCGGGAACACTTAAAGTATAGTGCAATTG 3′ [SEQ ID NO:49], reverse primer: 5′CAGACTTTGATCTGCTTAGGCTC 3′, [SEQ ID NO:50]). Clones from independent PCR reactions were sequenced to verify the accuracy of the PCR amplification. A clone whose sequence matched that in the Arabidopsis database, except for the apparent deletion of 1 T bp from a stretch of 12 Ts approximately 1.2 kb 5′ of the Revoluta coding sequence, was chosen for use in cloning the endogenous Revoluta promoter region (nucleotides 1–2848 of SEQ ID NO:1). A clone, pNO84, containing the genomic DNA sequence of REVOLUTA was isolated from a No-ecotype plant. A 2.8 kb BamHI-Sal1 restriction digest DNA fragment, including approximately 2.6 kb of promoter and upstream sequence and 0.2 kb of REV coding sequence, was cloned into the BamHI and Sal1 sites of clone pNO84 to generate a REVOLUTA gene from ecotype No linked to its endogenous promoter. To clone a 3′ polyadenylation signal onto the 3′ end of the pNO84 Revoluta gene, approximately 0.7 kb of the 3′ end of a Revoluta Co gene, starting immediately downstream of the REV stop codon was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction with the following oligonucleotides (5′ primer includes a NotI site: 5′TTGCGGCCGCTTCGATTGACAGAAAAAGACTAATTT 3′ [SEQ ID NO:51]; 3′ primer includes ApaI and KpnI sites: 5′ TTGGGCCCGGTACCCTCAACCAACCACATGGAC 3′ [SEQ ID NO:52]). The amplified polyA addition site DNA fragment was cloned into the NotI and ApaI sites of pNO84 3′ of the REVOLUTA coding sequence. REVOLUTA expression transgenes containing the expected 3′ polyA addition sequence were verified by DNA sequencing. The resulting REVOLUTA transgene containing the REV promoter, coding, and 3′ regions was cloned out of the original vector using KpnI and ligated into the pCGN1547 T-DNA binary vector (McBride et al., 1990 Plant Mol. Biol. 14:269–276).

REVOLUTA Expressed from the 35S Cauliflower Mosaic Virus Promoter

A DNA fragment encoding approximately 900 bp of the 35S cauliflower mosaic viral promoter (35S CaMV) was amplified from the pHomer 102 plasmid by PCR using primers 5′ AAGGTACCAAGTTCGACGGAGAAGGTGA 3′ [SEQ ID No.:53] and 5′AAGGATCCTGTAGAGAGAGACTGGTGATTTCAG 3′ [SEQ ID No.:54]. Clones containing amplified DNA fragments from independent PCR reactions were sequenced to verify the accuracy of the PCR amplification. Kpn1 and BamHI restriction sites were included in the PCR primers to allow for the isolation of a 900 bp Kpn1-BamH1 fragment that includes the amplified 35S CaMV promoter. This Kpn1-BamH1 35S CaMV fragment was inserted 5′ of the REV genomic sequence in clone pNO84 at the Kpn1 and BamH1 sites to generate a No Revoluta transgene linked approximately 70 bp downstream of the 35S CaMV promoter transcription start site. The 3′ end of the REV gene was placed downstream of the REV coding region following the same procedure described above. The entire 35S CAMV Revoluta transgene was cloned into T-DNA binary vector pCGN1547 using KpnI.

REV Inverted Repeat Constructs

REV cDNA was amplified using the following primers: REVIR-1 TTATCGATAGCTTTGCTTATCCGGGAAT [SEQ ID NO:138] and REVIR-2 TTGCGGCCGCCTG-ACAAGCCATACCAGCAA [SEQ ID NO:139]; REVIR-3 TTGCGGCCGCAGTTCAACGTGTTGC-AATGG [SEQ ID NO:140] and REVIR-4 TTGCATGCGCTAGCGTCGTCGCTTCCAAGTGAAT [SEQ ID NO:141]; and REVIR-5 TTGTCGACCCGCGGAGCMGCTTATCCGGGAAT [SEQ ID NO:142] and REVIR-6 TTGATGCGCTAGCCTGACAAGCCATACCAGCAA [SEQ ID NO:143]. These PCR products were cloned behind the CaMV 35S promoter in the order ½ then ¾ then ⅚, and then cloned into pCGN1547. All these IR primers have restriction sites on the end. REVIR-1 and REVIR-5 correspond to bp 5496–5515 (in exon 12) and REVIR-2 and REVIR-6 correspond to 6226–6245 (in exon 15). The linker sequence is made from the product of REVIR-3 corresponding to 6268–6288 (in exon 15) and REVIR-4 corresponding to 6509–6528 (in exon 16). The construct therefore consists of: CLAI restriction site 5496–5582; 5668–5748; 5834–5968; 6051–6245 NOTI restriction site 6268–6388; 6477–6528 NHEI SPHI restriction sites 6245–6051; 5968–5834; 5748–5668; 5582–5496 SAC II restriction site (SEQ ID NO:144).

Additional inverted repeat constructs are made essentially as described above, and include the following: An inverted repeat construct is made from At REV comprising Exons 3–7, 3670 to 3743; 3822 to 3912; 4004 to 4099; 4187 to 4300; and 4383–4466 (SEQ ID NO:145); a linker of exon 15 (SEQ ID NO:146) and SEQ ID NO:147. Similarly, an inverted repeat construct is made from tomato REV comprising SEQ ID NO:148 and SEQ ID NO:150, with a linker of SEQ ID NO:149. Inverted repeat constructs are made from rice, including an inverted repeat construct from rice Rev1, comprising SEQ ID NO:151 and SEQ ID NO:153, with a linker of SEQ ID NO:152 and an inverted repeat construct from rice Rev2, comprising SEQ ID NO:154 and SEQ ID NO:156, with a linker of SEQ ID NO:155.

EXAMPLE 3 Complementation of revoluta Mutants Using REVOLUTA Transgenes

Agrobacterium strain At503 was transformed with the above constructs and cocultivated with root explants from rev-1 and wild-type Nossen 2–3 week old seedlings (Valvekens et al., 1988 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci USA 85:5536–5540). Regenerated plants from this tissue are analyzed for complementation of the rev phenotype by comparing the transformed plants to the nontransformed rev mutant plants. Alternatively, Arabidopsis plants expressing a Revoluta transgene can be made using in planta transformation (Bechtold et al., 1998 Methods Mol. Biol. 82:259–266). Gene expression of the transgenes is determined by performing Northern blot hybridization assays using Revoluta transgene specific hybridization probes that do not hybridize significantly to endogenous Revoluta mRNA. Alternatively, Revoluta gene expression is measured by performing reverse transcriptase reactions on isolated mRNA samples and than using copy DNA from the reverse transciptase reaction as substrate for PCR (see “PCR Strategies”, M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand and J. J. Sninsky, eds., 1995, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (Chapter 14); “PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications”, M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand, J. J. Sninsky and T. J. White, eds., Academic Press, NY (1990)). The amount of PCR amplification product reflects the level of Revoluta gene expression in the plants at the time the tissue was collected for preparation of the mRNA sample.

Partial Complementation of the rev-1 Mutant

We confirmed that the HD-Zip protein encoded by MUP24.4 was the REV gene product, by transforming constructs containing the wild-type coding region into homozygous rev-1 plants. Partial complementation was seen in one out of six fertile T2 lines transformed with the 5′REV construct. FIG. 5A shows two T2 rev-1 plants, one transformed with the vector alone (left) and one transformed with the 5′REV construct (right). Plants transformed with the 5′REV construct had an increased number of lateral shoots in the axils of the cauline leaves on the main inflorescence, relative to the rev-1 control plant transformed with the vector. They also had narrower leaf stalks, and smaller, less revolute leaves compared to the rev-1 control. Additionally the flowers in this transformed line, like wild-type flowers, are smaller than those on the rev-1 control plants (FIGS. 5B and 5C). Together these results supported the conclusion that the HD-Zip coding region was the REV gene, but suggested that a specific expression pattern may be necessary to complement the rev-1 mutation since no plants were complemented with a Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter—Revoluta construct.

Suppression of REV with an Inverted Repeat Transgene

Introduction of antisense RNA and inverted gene repeats into wild-type organisms has been shown to interfere with normal gene function in a variety of systems (reviewed in Sharp and Zamore, 2000). More recently, Waterhouse et al. (1998) showed that transformation of wild-type plants with a construct containing an inverted repeat of a wild-type gene under the control of a ubiquitous promoter, induces silencing of the endogenous gene. These results have been confirmed by Chuang and Meyerowitz (2000). Therefore, to further substantiate the conclusion that the HD-Zip protein identified was the REV gene, we transformed an inverted repeat construct of this ORF under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter into wild-type Columbia plants and determined the induction of a Rev⁻ phenotype. Of 16 independent transformants examined, five showed a Rev⁻ phenotype with similar or lesser intensity to that conferred by the weak alleles, rev-3 and -5. In particular, these plants, like rev mutant plants, had a large number of empty axils (FIGS. 5E–H), compared to the wild-type Columbia plants (FIGS. 5D and H). FIG. 5H shows a control Columbia plant (right) and a transgenic Rev-like plant containing the inverted repeat construct (left).

EXAMPLE 4 REV mRNA is Expressed in Proliferating and in Non-Dividing Tissue

In Situ Hybridization

Non-radioactive in situ hybridization was performed as follows. Either a 455 bp central portion of REV, or a 779 bp 3′ portion of REV was amplified from cDNA as described above using the primers REVcentral-1 GGAGCCTTGAAGTTTTCACTATG [SEQ ID NO:175] and REVcentral-2 AGGCTGCCTTCCTAATCCAT [SEQ ID NO:176]; or the primers REV3′-1 TGAGGAGCGTGATCTCATCAG [SEQ ID NO:177] and REV 3′-2 CAAAATTATCACATCATTCCCTTT [SEQ ID NO:178] and cloned into the Topo II vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.). The central REVprobe was used for FIGS. 7A–L, N–O, and the 3′ REV probe for P–Q. A 662 bp of FIL was amplified from cDNA using primers FIL-1 CGTCTATGTCCTCCCCTTCC [SEQ ID NO:179] and FIL-2 AACGTTAGCAGCTGCAGGA [SEQ ID NO:180] and cloned into the TopoII vector. Histone H4 was amplified from cDNA using primers H4-1 TGGAAAGGGAGGAAAAGGTT [SEQ ID NO:181] and H4-2 GCCCAATCCGTAAAGAGTCC [SEQ ID NO:182] and cloned into the TOPOII vector. Sense and antisense probes were generated as described in the protocol using a kit (Roche Biochemcials, Indianapolis, Ind.). Pictures were taken on a Nikon Microphot using a Nikon Coolpix digital camera and imported in Adobe Photoshop 4.01.

To determine the level of REV expression in different tissues, semi-quantitative RT-PCR was performed on RNA isolated from 3–4 week old plants (young cauline leaves, young rosette leaves) and 6–7 week old plants (buds, flowers, stems, older cauline leaves, older rosette leaves) using primers from the REV gene. Control reactions were performed simultaneously using primers from the actin gene (ACT2; Accession ATU41998).

REV and ACT2 were simultaneously amplified using RT-PCR on cDNA prepared from various plant tissues. The resulting products were blotted and probed with the respective genes. The blots were quantified using a Phosphorimager detection system and analyzed with NIH Image (1.60). The REV levels were corrected for loading differences using the ACT2 levels. For both genes, amplification of the genomic sequence yields a larger fragment than that derived from the cDNA with the same primers, as expected due to the absence of intronic sequences. Similar results were obtained from duplicate experiments. The tissue source for each lane are as follows: (A) bud, (B) flower, (C) stem, (D) young cauline leaves from 3–4 week plant, (E) older cauline leaves from 6–7 week plant, (F) young rosette leaves from 3–4 week plant, (G) older rosette leaves from 6–7 week plant, (H) no cDNA control, (I) 0.005 ng genomic DNA, (J) 0.05 ng genomic DNA, (K) 0.5 ng genomic DNA, (L) 5 ng genomic DNA.

After PCR amplification, the reaction products were blotted and probed with the respective genes. Quantitation of the REV signal intensity, after normalization to the ACT2 signal, indicated that REV mRNA was detected in all tissues tested, as shown in FIG. 6. It was, however, most abundant in flowers and buds (FIG. 6, lanes A and B). The amount of REV mRNA dropped about twofold in stems and young cauline leaves (lanes C and D) and was further reduced in older cauline leaves and rosette leaves (lanes E, F and G).

In situ hybridization experiments with REV antisense probes showed results consistent with the RT-PCR experiments and are shown in FIG. 7. The REV mRNA was most abundant in apices and in regions of active cell division throughout the plant (FIGS. 7A–L). REV was expressed in wild-type inflorescence meristems and its expression increased in floral primordia (FIGS. 7A–C). In the floral meristem, an increased concentration of REV mRNA was apparent in sepals, stamen and carpel primordia, relative to the surrounding floral tissue (FIGS. 7C–D and 7F–I). However, REV expression decreased in the sepals of later stage flowers while expression remained strong in developing carpels and stamens at this stage (FIG. 7 A, C, F). REV mRNA was also abundant in axillary meristems (FIG. 7A). In the cauline leaves, expression was detected in two gradients simultaneously, one decreasing from the proximal to distal direction in the leaf, and the other decreasing in the adaxial to abaxial direction in the leaf (FIG. 7E). REV mRNA was detected in early embryos (FIG. 7K) and continued at high levels throughout the cell division phase of embryogenesis and in the endosperm (FIGS. 7L and J). Finally, REV mRNA was detected in mature non-dividing tissue of the stem, particularly in the cortical and vascular regions (FIG. 7P). This expression pattern correlates with the increased numbers of cell layers seen in the cortex of rev-1 stems (FIG. 7R) compared to wild-type stems (FIG. 7S).

Rev-1 Mutant Plants Display an Altered Pattern of the S-Phase Cells

The histone H4 gene is transcribed only in actively dividing cells and cells undergoing endoreduplication. Consequently, histone H4 mRNA can be used as a marker of cell cycle activity. To better understand how the REV gene influences cell division patterns in developing plants, histone H4 mRNA in situ hybridizations were performed on wild-type and rev-1 mutant plants. The number of cells expressing the H4 mRNA appeared increased in rev-1 mutant plants relative to wild type as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. This was particularly noticeable in the adaxial regions of cauline leaves and in the stem, both of which are regions that undergo excess growth in rev mutants. The striking localization of cell divisions to the adaxial compartment of rev cauline leaves affected the entire length of the leaf. In the thickened region proximal to the axil, clusters of cell divisions were common in the rev-1 mutant (FIG. 8D) compared to wild type (FIG. 8C).

EXAMPLE 5 REV Double Mutants

FIL is Properly Expressed in Rev Mutants

REV Double Mutants

lfy REV double mutants were obtained as described in Talbert et al., (1995). Briefly, REV F2 individuals from a rev-1 X lfy-6/+ cross were progeny tested for segregation of lfy rev F3 double mutants. The putative lfy-6 rev-1 plants were tested using PCR to verify the presence of the lfy mutation because rev and lfy are tightly linked. The lfy-6 CAPS markers used were designed to take advantage of the single base pair change giving rise to the lfy-6 mutation: a CAA to UAA change at codon 32. The primers are AACGAGAGCATTGGTTCAAG [SEQ ID NO:183] and CAACGAAAGATATGAGAGAG [SEQ ID NO:184]. Cutting the resulting PCR product with MaeIII distinguishes the lfy-6 mutant from the wild-type gene. For the rev fil mutant, pollen from homozygous rev-1 plants were crossed to homozygous fil-1 plants. The heterozygous progeny was crossed to rev-1 pollen and olants homozygous for both rev-1 and fil-1 identified.

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Samples were fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.02M sodium phosphate pH 7.0, and vacuum infiltrated for 15–30 minutes, then stored at 4° C. for 16 hours or greater. Samples were placed in 1% osmium tetroxide (Polysciences, Warrington, PA) for 2–4 hours before dehydration in an ethanol series. The samples were dried using a Denton DCP-1 Critical Point Drying Apparatus (Denton Vacuum Inc., Moorestown, NJ). Samples were mounted on carbon conductive pads fixed to SEM specimen mounts and coated with Au/Pd. A Jeol JSM-840A scanning microscope was used. The images were taken using Polaroid Type 55 film, then scanned and imported into Adobe Photoshop 4.01

In fil mutants, flowers form earlier that in wild-type plants, tertiary shoots fail to form due to an apparent lack of meristem formation at the base of cauline leaves, and flowers show aberrant number, shape and arrangement of organs. Additionally severe fil alleles sometimes form flowerless pedicels or pedicels with single sepal structures on their distal end which resemble the filaments formed in rev plants (Chen et al., 1999; Sawa et al., 1999). In fil rev double mutants the primary inflorescence is severely shortened, and all floral primordia appear to terminate as flowerless pedicels. These structures, like pedicels on wild-type flowers, are smooth. However, because all floral primordia become flowerless pedicels, it has been suggested that REV and FIL have partially redundant functions to promote flower formation in floral primordia (Chen et al., 1999).

Given this strong double-mutant phenotype, it was helpful to determine the expression of FIL mRNA in rev plants. In wild-type plants, FIL mRNA expression occurs weakly throughout the SAM, but as the floral meristem becomes distinct from the SAM, FIL expression increases on the abaxial side of the meristem (Siegfried et al., 1999). FIL in situs on rev-1 tissue were indistinguishable from the wild-type controls, indicating that disruption of the rev gene product does not influence FIL expression (FIGS. 7E–I).

Interactions of Rev with Other Mutations

In order to better understand REV activity in floral meristems, we created rev-1 lfy-6 double mutant plants. LFY function is required for proper specification of floral meristem identity. As shown in FIG. 9, lfy rev double mutants, like rev fil double mutants, were short plants with a single inflorescence terminating in a bundle of filamentous structures. Unlike the filamentous structures formed in rev fil double mutants, which are usually smooth and resemble flowerless pedicels (FIGS. 9B, F and G), the filamentous structures formed on rev lfy double mutants ranged from smooth to hairy acropetally, and were leaf-like in that they had stellate trichomes, although some were carpelloid (FIGS. 9A, E, H–I). A scale-like structure was visible at the base of each filament (FIGS. 9H and I) and may represent a rudimentary subtending organ (Long and Barton, 2000). Additionally rev lfy double mutants had one or more filamentous stem appendages, usually on the opposite side as the first cauline leaf (FIGS. 9A and C). The appendages resembled the structures often detected in the axil of rev single mutants (FIG. 9D). As with the fil rev double mutant, the lfy rev double mutant indicates that REV has a role in floral meristem maintenance.

In concert with LFY, APETALA 1 is required to establish the floral meristem. Ectopic expression of either LFY or AP1 during vegetative development can result in precocious flower formation (Weigel and Nilsson (1995) Nature 377, 495; Mandel and Yanofsky (1995) Nature 377: 522). AP1 plays an additional role in determining the identity of sepal and petal organs in the first and second whorl. Specifically, in ap1-1 mutants, sepals are converted into cauline leaf or bract-like structures, and petals are absent having failed to be initiated. In addition, floral meristems are converted partially or completely into inflorescence meristems in the axil of the cauline leaf-like sepals, leading to the production of highly branched structures (Bowman 1993 Dev 119, 721–743 FIG. 9). Unlike the rev lfy double mutant, rev-1 ap1-1 double mutants produce normal size inflorescences with floral defects expected from the respective single mutant phenotypes (FIG. 9). The rev-1 ap1-1 mutant flowers resembled single ap1-1 mutant flowers, except that they had longer bract-like sepals than the ap1-1 mutant flowers (FIG. 9I). Although this phenotype of the rev-1 ap1-1 mutant is additive, the lack of axillary meristems of the rev-1 mutant is epistatic to the increased number of axillary meristems of the ap1-1 mutant which results in a non-branched structure (FIG. 9).

AGAMOUS is another multifunctional gene that regulates floral organ identity and is required for determinate growth of the flower. In ag-1 mutants, petals develop in place of the stamens in the third whorl, and a new flower is initiated in place of the carpels in the fourth whorl. The phenotype of the rev-1 ag-1 mutant is additive with the double mutant flowers producing enlarged petals as in rev-1 plants, but with petals in the third whorl as in ag-1 plants (FIG. 9). Also, rev-1 ag-1 double mutant flowers reiterate flower development in the fourth whorl as ag-1 single mutants.

The CLAVATA genes control the size of the apical meristem. Loss of function clv mutants have enlarged apical meristems due to the accumulation of undifferentiated stem cells in the central zone of the apical meristem. The strong cly1-4 mutant also has club shaped seed pods due to the presence of additional carpels. The double clv1-4 rev-1 mutant phenotype is synergistic because the have massive overgrowth of structures from within the floral bud. These callus-like tissues actually burst through the seed pod as they continue growing. This result is consistent with a role for REV in limiting cell divisions in the floral tissues that is partially redundant with CLV1 as revealed by the double mutant phenotype.

EXAMPLE 6 Identification and Isolation of REVOLUTA from Other Plant Species

In one embodiment the present invention provides a method to identify and use REVOLUTA genes and proteins that function as modulators of cell division in the plant species from which they are isolated. REVOLUTA orthologs to the Arabidopsis REVOLUTA gene are isolated using a combination of a “sequence similar test” and a REVOLUTA “gene function test.” First, a candidate REVOLUTA gene sequence is isolated from target plant DNA, such as for example, genomic DNA or DNA maintained in a gene library, by the polymerase chain reaction using “CODEHOP” PCR primers (Rose et al., 1998 Nucleic Acids Res. 26:1628–1635) that amplify subfamily III HD-Zip polynucleotides. The amplified DNA is then sequenced to determine that the PCR product encodes a region of protein that is at least about 70% identical, more preferably at least about 75% identical, and most preferably at least about 80% identical to the Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein sequence corresponding to the PCR amplified region. The “gene function test” is then performed using a polynucleotide region from the candidate REVOLUTA coding sequence that has been transferred into a plant transformation vector and transformed back into the plant species from which the candidate REVOLUTA gene was derived. Actual REVOLUTA genes are those that modulate plant cell division when the REVOLUTA transgene is expressed in the transformed plant.

Identification of HD-Zip Subfamily III PCR Primers

To generated HD-Zip subfamily III CODEHOP primers, the known HD-Zip III amino acid sequences were entered into the blockmaker program located at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center website. The program compares the sequences and generates blocks of homology conserved between the different proteins. Table 8 lists the HD-Zip III amino acid block made from six HDZip III family members.

Table 8 HD-Zip III amino block identified using the the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center “blocks” computer program HD-Zip Block HD-Zip Protein Amino Acid Sequence HD-ZipIII: Block A (block width = 43) REVOLUTA ¹24 GKYVRYTAEQVEALERVYAECPKPSSLRRQQLIRECSILANIE SEQ ID No.:2 Athb-14  24 GKYVRYTPEQVEALERVYTECPKPSSLRRQQLIRECPILSNIE SEQ ID No.:55 Athb-8  14 GKYVRYTPEQVEALERLYNDCPKPSSMRRQQLIRECPILSNIE SEQ ID No.:56 Athb-9  20 GKYVRYTPEQVEALERVYAECPKPSSLRRQQLIRECPILCNIE SEQ ID No.:57 CRHB 1  19 GKYVRYTSEQVQALEKLYCECPKPTLLQRQQLIRECSILRNVD SEQ ID No.:58 F5F19.21  16 GKYVRYTPEQVEALERLYHDCPKPSSIRRQQLIRECPILSNIE SEQ ID No.:59 HD-ZipIII: Block B (block width = 42) REVOLUTA  70 IKVWFQNRRCRDKQRKEASRLQSVRKLSAMNKLLMEENDRL SEQ ID No.:2 Athb-14  70 IKVWFQNRRCREKQRKEAARLQTVNRKLNAMNKLLMEENDRL SEQ ID No.:55 Athb-8  60 IKVWFQNRRCREKQRKEASRLQAVNRKLTAMNKLLMEENDRL SEQ ID No.:56 Athb-9  66 IKVWFQNRRCREKQRKESARLQTVNRKLSAMNKLLMEENDRL SEQ ID No.:57 CRHB1  65 IKVWFQNRCREKQRKEWCRLQSLNGKLTPINTMLMEENVQL SEQ ID No.:58 F5F19.21  62 IKVWFQNRRCREKQRKEASRLQAVNRKLTAMNKLLMEENDRL SEQ ID No.:59 HD-ZipIII: Block C (block width = 29) REVOLUTA 154 SPAGLLSIAEETLAEFLSKATGTAVDWVQ SEQ ID No.:2 Athb-14 167 NPAGLLSIAEEALAEFLSKATGTAVDWVQ SEQ ID No.:55 Athb-8 153 SPAGLLSIADETLTEFISKATGTAVEWVQ SEQ ID No.:56 Athb-9 163 NPANLLSIAEETLAEFLCKATGTAVDWVQ SEQ ID No.:57 CRHB1 109 HVAQLVTINHALRRQLSSTPSHFRFPTVS SEQ ID No.:58 F5F19.21 154 SPAGLLSIAEETLAEFLSKATGTAVEWVQ SEQ ID No.:59 HD-ZipIII: Block D (block width = 31) REVOLUTA 446 VLCAKASMLLQNVPPAVLIRFLREHRSEWAD SEQ ID No.:2 Athb-14 464 VLCAKASMLLQNVPPAVLVRFLREHRSEWAD SEQ ID No.:55 Athb-8 452 VLCAKASMLLQNVPPSILLRFLREHRQEWAD SEQ ID No.:56 Athb-9 460 VLCAKASMLLQNVPPLVLIRFLREHRAEWAD SEQ ID No.:57 CRHB1 138 LMNIYAIVRLQHVPIPECRS²XXXXXXXXXXX SEQ ID No.:58 F5F19.21 453 VLCAKASMLLQNVPPAILLRFLREHRSEWAD SEQ ID No.:59 ¹The number denotes the amino acid position of the first amino acid in each block using the amino acid numbers in each protein sequence disclosed in the referenced SEQ ID Number. ²X means that no corresponding amino acid is found in the optimized computer alignment.

HD-Zip class III PCR primers were designed with the HD-Zip III “block” amino acid sequence data, presented in Table 8, by inputting the “block” sequence data into the CODEHOP program using either the gibbs algorithm or the motif algorithm. The PCR primer output was further refined by selecting a particular plant species, in this example rice, to which the PCR primer sequence was biased based upon the preferred codon usage compiled for rice (other plant codon biases can also be selected using the CODEHOP program). Table 9 presents a set of possible CODEHOP HD-Zip III PCR primers that can be compiled using the CODEHOP program to amplify HD-Zip genes from rice, barley and corn.

TABLE 9 HD-Zip III PCR primer designed using the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center “CODEHOP” computer program. HD-Zip Block Oligonucleotide Sequence¹ HD-ZipIII: Block A Forward Rice A1F 5′ -GGCGGCAGCAGCTGathmgngartg-3′ SEQ ID No.:60     R  Q  Q  L  I  R  E  C Degen² = 48, temp³ = 62.4 Rice A2F 5′ -GGAGAGGGTGTACTGCGAGtgyccnaarcc-3′ SEQ ID No.:61     E  R  V  Y  C  E  C  P  K  P Degen = 16, temp = 62.2 rice A2 Rice A3F 5′ -TGCGGTACACCCCCgarcargtnsa-3′ SEQ ID No.:62     R  Y  T  P  E  Q  V  E Degen = 32, temp = 63.3 Rice A4F 5′ -TGCGGTACACCCCCGArcargtnsarg-3′ SEQ ID No.:63     R  Y  T  P  E  Q  V  E  A Degen = 64, temp = 63.3 Rice A5F 5′ -CGGTACACCCCCGAGcargtnsargc-3′ SEQ ID No.:63     R  Y  T  P  E  Q  V  E  A Degen = 32, temp = 64.2 Rice A6F 5′ -TGGAGAGGGTGTACTGCgantgyccnaa-3′ SEQ ID No.:65     E  R  V  Y  C  E  C  P  K Degen = 32, temp = 60.4 Rice A7F 5′ -TGGAGAGGGTGTACTGCGAntgyccnaarc-3′ SEQ ID No.:66     E  R  V  Y  C  E  C  P  K  P Degen = 64, temp = 60.4 Rice A8F 5′ -CCGACCTCCATGCGGmgncarcaryt-3′ SEQ ID No.:67     P  S  S  L  R  R  Q  Q  L Degen = 64 temp = 60.8 Rice A9F 5′ -CCATGCGGCGGcarcarytnat-3′ SEQ ID No.:68     L  R  R  Q  Q  L  I Degen = 32, temp = 62.4 HD-ZipIII: Block A Reverse Rice A1R 5′ -CGGGGGTGTACCGCacrtayttncc-3′ SEQ ID No.:69 Degen = 16, temp = 62.1         ⁴Complementary to:         G  K  Y  V  R  Y  T  P  E         ccnttyatrcaCGCCATGTGGGGGC Rice A2R 5′ -CTGCTCGGGGGTGTACcknacrtaytt-3′ SEQ ID No.:70 Degen = 32, temp = 60.1        Complementary to:        K  Y  V  R  Y  T  P  E  Q        ttyatrcankcCATGTGGGGGCTCGTC Rice A3R 5′ -ACCTGCTCGGGGGTGtancknacrta-3′ SEQ ID No.:71 Degen = 64, temp = 60.1         Complementary to:         Y  V  R  Y  T  P  E  Q  V         atrcankcnatGTGGGGGCTCGTCCA Rice A4R 5′ -CCACCTGCTCGGGGgtrtancknac-3′ SEQ ID No.:72 Degen = 64, temp = 63.2         Complementary to:         V  R  Y  T  P  E  Q  V  E         cankcnatrtgGGGGCTCGTCCACC Rice A5R 5′ -CACCCTCTCCAGGGCCtsnacytgytc-3′ SEQ ID No.:73 Degen = 32, temp = 61.2         Complementary to:         E  Q  V  E  A  L  E  R  V         ctygtycanstCCGGGACCTCTCCCAC Rice A6R 5′ -CAGTACACCCTCTCCAGGGcytsnacytgyt-3′ SEQ ID No.:74 Degen = 64 temp = 62.0         Complementary to:         Q  V  E  A  L  E  R  V  Y  C         tygtycanstycGGGACCTCTCCCACATGAC Rice A7R 5′ -CAGTACACCCTCTCCAGGgcytsnacytg-3′ SEQ ID No.:75 Degen = 32, temp = 62.0         Complementary to:         Q  V  E  A  L  E  R  V  Y  C         gtycanstycgGGACCTCTCCCACATGAC HD-ZipIII: Block B Forward Rice B1F 5′ -CCATGAACAAGATGCTGatggargaraa-3′ SEQ ID No.:76     M  N  K  M  L  M  E  E  N Degen = 4, temp = 63.3 Rice B2F 5′ -CGGCTGCAGACCGTGaayvgnaaryt-3′ SEQ ID No.:77     R  L  Q  S  V  N  R  K  L Degen = 96, temp = 63.3 Rice B3F 5′ -GACCGCCATGAACAAGATGytnatggarga-3′ SEQ ID No.:78     T  A  M  N  K  M  L  M  E  E Degen = 16, temp = 60.1 Rice B4F 5′ -CCGCCATGAACAAGATGCTnatggargara-3′ SEQ ID No.:79     A  M  N  K  M  L  M  E  E  N Degen = 16, temp = 62.2 Rice B5F 5′ -CCATGAACAAGATGCTGATggargaraayg-3′ SEQ ID No.:80     M  N  K  M  L  M  E  E  N  D Degen = 8, temp = 63.3 HD-ZipIII: Block B Reverse Rice B1R 5′ -CGGCACCGCCGGttytgraacca-3′ SEQ ID No.:81 Degen = 4, temp = 64.2         Complementary to:         W  F  Q  N  R  R  C  R         accaargtyttGGCCGCCACGGC Rice B2R 5′ -ATCTGGTTCATGGCGGTCaryttncbrtt-3′ SEQ ID No.:82 Degen = 96, temp = 60.1         Complementary to:         N  R  K  L  T  A  M  N  K  M         ttrbcnttyraCTGGCGGTACTTGTTCTA Rice B3R 5′ -CGCCGGTTCTGGaaccanacytt-3′ SEQ ID No.:83 degen = 8, temp = 64.3         Complementary to:         K  V  W  F  Q  N  R  R         ttycanaccaaGGTCTTGGCCGC Rice B4R 5′ -GCACCGCCGGTTCtgraaccanac-3′ SEQ ID No.:84 degen = 8, temp = 61.0         Complementary to:         V  W  F  Q  N  R  R  C         canaccaargtCTTGGCCGCCACG HD-ZipII: Block D Forward Rice D1F 5′ -CCAAGGCCACCATGCTGytncarmaygt-3′ SEQ ID No.:85     K  A  S  M  L  L  Q  N  V Degen = 64, temp = 62.3 Rice D2F 5′ -AAGGCCACCATGCTGCTncarmaygtnc-3′ SEQ ID No.:86     K  A  S  M  L  L  Q  N  V  P Degen = 128, temp = 60.4 Rice D3F 5′ -CCACCATGCTGCTGcarmaygtncc-3′ SEQ ID No.:87     S  M  L  L  Q  N  V  P Degen = 32, temp = 60.1 Rice D4F 5′ -CCCGTCTGCATCCGGttyytnmgnga-3′ SEQ ID No.:88     A  V  C  I  R  F  L  R  E Degen = 128, temp = 63.1 Rice D5F 5′ -CCGTCTGCATCCGGTTCytnmgngarca-3′ SEQ ID No.:89     V  C  I  R  F  L  R  E  H Degen = 128, temp = 61.2 Rice D6F 5′ -GTCTGCATCCGGTTCCTGmgngarcaymg-3′ SEQ ID No.:90     V  C  I  R  F  L  R  E  H  R Degen = 64, temp = 60.2 Rice D7F 5′-TGCGGGAGCACCGGnvngartgggc-3′ SEQ ID No.:91    R  E  H  R  S  E  W  A Degen = 96, temp = 62.9 Rice D8F 5′ -GCGGGAGCACCGGTCngartgggcng-3′ SEQ ID No.:92     R  E  H  R  S  E  W  A  D Degen = 32, temp = 62.6 Rice D9F 5′ -GGAGCACCGGTCGgartgggcnga-3′ SEQ ID No.:93     E  H  R  S  E  W  A  D Degen = 8, temp = 60.3 HD-ZipIII: Block D Reverse Rice D1R 5′ -GACGGGCGGCggnacrtkytg-3′ SEQ ID No.:94 Degen = 32, temp = 60.4         Complementary to:         Q  N  V  P  P  A  V         gtyktrcanggCGGCGGGCAG Rice D2R 5′ -GACGGGCGGCGgnacrtkytgna-3′ SEQ ID No.:95 Degen = 128, temp = 60.4         Complementary to:            Q  N  V  P  P  A  V          angtyktrcangGCGGCGGGCAG Rice D3R 5′ -CACTCCGACCGGTGCtcncknarraa-3′ SEQ ID No.:96 Degen = 128, temp = 61.5         Complementary to:         F  L  R  E  H  R  S  E  W         aarrankcnctCGTGGCCAGCCTCAC ¹First line shows the oligonucleotide sequence of the CODEHOP designed primer. The degenerate nucleotide alphabet used by CODEHOP is: A → A, C → C, G → G, T → T, R → AG, Y → CT, M → AC, K → GT, W → AT, S → CG, B → CGT, D → AGT, H → ACT, V → ACG; and N → ACGT. The second line shows the amino acid sequence encoded by all of the redundant primers. ²“Degen” means the number of degenerate oligonucleotides within the primer pool that encode the designated amino acid sequence. ³“Temp.” means the mean melting temperature of the degenerate oligonucleotide primer pool. ⁴“Complementary to” refers to the HD-Zip amino acid block that the designated reverse oligonuleotide is complementary to, i.e. the peptide encoding strand sequence region of the HD-Zip block. Other HD-Zip III PCR primers can be selected by changing the primers sequences listed in Table 9 to reflect the appropriate codon usage bias of the target plant species. However, as shown below the CODEHOP HD-Zip III primers designed specifically for rice were also capable of ampilfing HD-Zip fragments from the monocot plants maize and barley.

Isolation of Monocot HD-Zip Clones

Monocot HD-Zip III homologs were identified using CODEHOP primers Rice A2F [SEQ ID NO:71] and Rice B2R [SEQ ID NO:81] or Rice A2F and Rice B2R [SEQ ID No:82] selected from Table 9. These primers were used in a 20 μL PCR reaction using 2 Units AmpliTaq Gold (Perkin Elmer), the supplied buffer, 2 mM MgCl2, 0.2 mM dNTPs, and 0.5 μM each primer. The template DNAs for PCR used were: 1.5 μL of a rice (Oryza sativa L. indicam var.IR36) cDNA library (Stratagene FL1041b); 1.5 μL of purified genomic rice (Oryza sativa) DNA (about 400 ng); 1.5 μL of purified genomic barley (Hordeum vulgare) DNA (about 400 ng); 1.5 μL of purified genomic maize (Zea may) DNA (about 400 ng). PCR conditions included a 95° C. incubation for 9 minutes, followed by 5 cycles of 95° C. (30 seconds); 60° C. to 55° C. (30 seconds) decreasing by 1° C. each cycle; 72° C. (2 minutes); then 35 cycles of 95° C. (30 seconds); 55° C. (30 seconds); and 72° C. (2 minutes). The resulting PCR DNA products were analyzed by gel electrophoresis, then cut out from a 0.8% low melt agarose gel (SeaPlaque, FMC Bioproducts, Rockland, Me.) in TAE buffer, and purified using a PCR clean up kit (Promega). The DNA fragments were cloned into a TOPO II vector kit (Invitrogen). DNA was purified from bacterial cells using a spin miniprep kit (Qiagen) and sequenced using BIG dye (Applied Biosystems). The rice, maize and barley DNA and protein sequences are disclosed in SEQ ID Nos:97–126, respectively.

The BLAST2 computer program of Altschul et al. (1997) was used to compare the amplified monocot sequences with the corresponding protein region in Arabidopsis REVOLUTA. Computer aided sequence comparisons were performed using version BLAST2.0.9 at the National Institutes of Health webpage site. Each of the amplified sequences had a high degree of amino acid sequence identity or similarity to the Arabidopsis REVOLUTA protein (about 79% to 88% amino acid identity and about 87% to 97% amino acid similarity). These data demonstrate that genes can be isolated from distantly related monocot plant species using the HD-Zip CODEHOP primers disclosed in Table 9, that encode peptides regions that have a high degree of sequence homology to the corresponding amino acid region of the Arabidopsis Revoluta protein [SEQ ID NO.:2].

REVOLUTA Function Test

Plant genes isolated using the above-described methods are then tested for Revoluta function. Functional testing to identify actual Revoluta genes is done by cloning the polynucleotide sequences amplified using various combinations of the forward and reverse HD-Zip block PCR primers listed in Table 9 into plant transformation vectors. The putative Revoluta sequence is oriented in the plant transformation vector using one of the gene suppression strategies previously outlined, such as by making an inverted repeat transgene or an antisense transgene. Regenerated transgenic plants are examined and the number of cells contained in various tissues is compared to the number of cells in the corresponding tissues of untranformed plants. Plants that have been transformed with suppressor transgenes comprising Revoluta genes of the present invention have a statistically significant change in the number of cells within a representative cross sectional area of the tissue. Alternatively, the size of various plant organs such as leaves and shoots are significantly different as described for Arabidopsis by Taylor et al.(1995).

Alternatively, labeled DNA sequences are amplified using the forward and reverse HD-Zip CODEHOP PCR primers listed in Table 9, by using, for example, biotin or radiolabeled nucleotides in the PCR. The labeled HD-Zip III sequences are then used to screen a cDNA or genomic plant clone library via nucleic acid hybridization. Clones that positively hybridize to the labeled PCR amplified HD-Zip sequences are then isolated and the DNA inserts characterized by DNA sequencing to identify HD-Zip III coding and noncoding sequences. Regions of the isolated HD-Zip III genes are then manipulated in vitro to construct gene suppressive transgenes that are then tested in transgenic plants to identify HD-Zip III genes that have the same function as REVOLUTA, i.e. they modulate cell division.

Identification and Isolation of REVOLUTA from Tomato

The Tomato REV gene is identified using primers generated using the Codehops program as described above. Genomic DNA from 50 mg of young Lycopersicum esculentum leaves is isolated as described in Example 1 above. One microliter of DNA is PCR amplified using the conditions described in Example 3. The following primers are used: rice A2F; GGAGAGGGTGTACTGCGAGTGYCCNAARCC [SEQ ID NO:61] and tomato JIR; CAGCAGAATAAGCATCAACATTATAATCNGCCCAYT [SEQ ID NO:162]. The product is sequenced and a genomic clone (SEQ ID NO:163), encoding a protein having 84% identity and 90% similarity to the Rev-1 protein is identified. The coding region and amino acid sequence of the tomato Rev protein are presented as SEQ ID NO:164 and SEQ ID NO:165, respectively.

Further analysis shows that there is significant identity at the amino acid level between the tomato REV and the other Arabidopsis HD-ZipIII family members (See Table 10).

TABLE 10 TomatoREV REV 84% Athb-9 71% Athb-8 66% Athb-14 73% F5F19.21 68%

The tomato REV is then tested and shown to have REVOLUTA function, essentially as described above.

Identification and Isolation of REVOLUTA from Rice

Rice REV1:

Rice Oryza sativa leaf DNA, isolated essentially as described above, or cDNA from the library (Stratagene FL1041b) is used as a template for PCR essentially as described. The following primers are used for the rice genomic DNA REV1 clone: TG-cDNA; GTRAGTGCCCCATACTTGCT (SEQ ID NO:165) R25AS-J; GCCGTTCACGGCSTCRTTRAANCC (SEQ ID NO:166). To pull out the 5′ end of the REV1cDNA, the following primers are used: one specific to the cloning vector, R22S; CGACGACTCCTGGAGTCCGTCAG (SEQ ID NO:167) and the other in the coding region of the gene, TGTATCATTTGCCAGCGGAG (SEQ ID NO:168). The nucleic acid sequence of rice Rev1 gene is found in SEQ ID NO:169 (genomic) and SEQ ID NO:170 (cDNA). The amino acid sequence of Rice Rev1 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:171. The rice Rev1 is then tested and shown to have REVOLUTA function, essentially as described above.

Rice REV2:

Rice cDNA as described above was used as a template for PCR using the following oligos:

Rice A2f [SEQ ID No:71]: GGAGAGGGTGTACTGCGAGTGYCCNAARCC

R10AS-K [SEQ ID NO:]: GCAGCAGCATGGAGGCYTTNGCRCA

PCR is performed, essentially as described above, to isolate the cDNA of rice Rev2. The nucleic acid sequence of rice Rev2 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:172. The amino acid sequence of rice Rev2 is set forth in SEQ ID NO:173. The rice Rev2 is then tested and shown to have REVOLUTA function, essentially as described above.

EXAMPLE 7 Modulation of Cell Division in Maize

Zygotic immature embryos of about 0.5 to 1 mm are isolated from developing seeds of Zea mays using the methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,135. The freshly isolated embryos are enzymatically treated for 1–2 minutes with an enzyme solution II (0.3% macerozyme (Kinki Yakult, Nishinomiya, Japan) in CPW salts (Powell et al., 1985 “Plant Cell Culture, A Practical Approach”, R. A. Dixon ed., Chapter 3) with 10% mannitol and 5 mM 2-N-Morpholino-ethane sulfonic acid (MES), pH 5.6). After 1–2 minutes incubation in this enzyme solution, the embryos are carefully washed with N6aph solution (macro- and micro-elements of N6 medium (Chu et al., 1975 Sci. Sin. Peking 18:659) supplemented with 6 mM asparagine, 12 mM proline, 1 mg/l thiamine-HCl, 0.5 mg/l nicotinic acid, 100 mg/l casein hydrolysate, 100 mg/l inositol, 30 g/l sucrose and 54 g/l mannitol).

After washing, the embryos are incubated in the maize electroporation buffer, EPM-NaCl (150 mM NaCl, 5 mM CaCl₂, 10 mM HEPES (N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N′-2-ethanesulfonic acid) and 0.425M mannitol, pH 7.2). Approximately 100 embryos in 200 μl EPM-NaCl are loaded in each cuvette. About 20 μg of linearized maize HD-Zip protein-3 plasmid DNA, is added per cuvette. The maize HD-Zip protein-3 plasmid contains an inverted repeat of the entire maize protein-3 polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID No.: 107. Transcription of the inverted repeat maize protein-3 transgene is under the control of a maize 18 kD oleosin promoter (Qu et al., 1990 J. Biol. Chem. 265:2238–2243). In addition, the maize HD-Zip protein-3 plasmid also contains a chimaeric gene comprising the kanamycin resistance gene (neo) and 3′ polyA addition region under the control of the CaMV 35S3 promoter (EP 359617).

After 1 hour DNA incubation with the explants, the cuvettes are transferred to an ice bath. After 10 minutes incubation on ice, the electroporation is carried out as follows: one pulse with a field strength of 375 V/cm is discharged from a 900 μF capacitor. The electroporation apparatus is as described by Dekeyser et al., (1990 Plant Cell 2:591). Immediately after electroporation, fresh liquid N6aph substrate is added to the explants in the cuvette, after which the explants are incubated for a further 10 minute period on ice.

Afterwards, the embryos are transferred to Mah1 VII substrate (macro- and micro-elements and vitamins of N6 medium supplemented with 100 mg/l casein hydrolysate, 6 mM proline, 0.5 g/l MES, 1 mg/l 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2% sucrose solidified with 0.75 g/l MgCl₂ and 1.6 g/l Phytagel (Sigma Chemical Company, St Louis, Mo.), pH 5.8) and supplemented with 0.2M mannitol. After 2–3 days the embryos are transferred to the same substrate supplemented with 200 mg/l kanamycin. After approximately 14 days, the embryos are transferred to Mah1 VII substrate without mannitol, supplemented with kanamycin (200 mg/l). The embryos are further subcultured on this selective substrate for approximately two months with subculturing intervals of about 3 weeks. The induced embryogenic tissue is then carefully isolated and transferred to MS medium (Murashige et al., 1962 Physicol. Plant 15:473–497) supplemented with 5 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine or 5 mg/l zeatin. The embryogenic tissue is maintained on this medium for approximately 14 days and subsequently transferred to MS medium without hormones and 3–6% sucrose. Developing shoots are transferred to 1/2 MS medium with 1.5% sucrose for further development to normal plantlets. These plantlets are transferred to soil and cultivated in the greenhouse.

Modulation of plant cell division is determined by comparing the size of corn kernals in the transformed plants as compared to kernals obtained from untransformed control plants. More specifically, the embryos within the transgenic kernals are increased in size due to an increased number of cells. The size and development of maize embryos with specific attention to the number of cells, determined by reference to methods of Scott et al. (1998 Development 125:332941) and Ingram et al. (1999 Plant Mol. Biol. 40:343–54

EXAMPLE 8 Modulation of Cell Division in Maize Shoots

An embryogenic maize callus line is prepared as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,708. Maize callus is subcultured 7 to 12 days prior to microprojectile bombardment. Maize callus is prepared for bombardment as follows. Five clumps of callus, each approximately 50 mg in wet weight are arranged in a cross pattern in the center of a sterile 60×15 mm petri plate (Falcon 1007). Plates are stored in a closed container with moist paper towels, throughout the bombardment process.

Maize callus is transformed with a mixture of two plasmid DNA molecules. pHD-Zip-invp-1 contains a rice actin promoter and a 3′ nos polyadenylation addition sequence region. An inverted repeat of polynucleotide sequence SEQ ID No.: 103 is inserted in between the rice actin promoter (Wang et al., 1992 Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:3399–3406) and the nopoline synthase (nos) polyA sequence (Chilton et al., 1983). pHYGI1 is a plasmid that contains the hygromycin coding sequence (Gritz et al. 1983 Gene 25:179–188) and a maize AdhIS intron sequence that enhances protein expression of transgenes in transgenic plants (U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,708).

pHD-Zip-invp-1 plasmid DNA and pHYGI1 is coated onto M-10 tungsten particles (Biolistics) exactly as described by Klein et al. (1988 Bio/Technology 6:559–563) except that, (i) twice the recommended quantity of DNA is used, (ii) the DNA precipitation onto the particles is performed at 0° C., and (iii) the tubes containing the DNA-coated tungsten particles are stored on ice throughout the bombardment process.

All of the tubes contain 25 μl of 50 mg/ml M-10 tungsten in water, 25 μl of 2.5M CaCl₂, and 10 μl of 100 mM spermidine along with a total of 5 μl of 1 mg/ml plasmid DNA. Each of the above plasmid DNAs are present in an amount of 2.5 μl.

All tubes are incubated on ice for 10 min., the particles are pelleted by centrifugation in an Eppendorf centrifuge at room temperature for 5 seconds, 25 μl of the supernatant is discarded. The tubes are stored on ice throughout the bombardment process. Each balistic preparation is used for no more than 5 bombardments.

Macroprojectiles and stopping plates are obtained from Biolistics, Inc. (Ithaca, N.Y.). They are sterilized as described by the supplier. The microprojectile bombardment instrument is obtained from Biolistics, Inc.

The sample plate tray is placed 5 cm below the bottom of the stopping plate tray of the microprojectile instrument, with the stopping plate in the slot nearest to the barrel. Plates of callus tissue prepared as described above are centered on the sample plate tray and the petri dish lid removed. A 7×7 cm square rigid wire mesh with 3×3 mm mesh and made of galvanized steel is placed over the open dish in order to retain the tissue during the bombardment. Tungsten/DNA preparations are sonicated as described by Biolistics, Inc. and 2.5 μl of the suspensions is pipetted onto the top of the macroprojectiles for each bombardment. The instrument is operated as described by the manufacturer.

Immediately after all samples are bombarded, callus from all of the plates treated with the pHYGI1 and pHD-Zip-invp-1 plasmid DNAs are transferred plate for plate onto F-medium containing 15 mg/l hygromycin B, (ten pieces of callus per plate). These are referred to as round 1 selection plates. Callus from the T.E. treated plate are transferred to F-medium without hygromycin. This tissue is subcultured every 2–3 weeks onto nonselective medium and is referred to as unselected control callus.

After about 14 days of selection, tissue appear essentially identical on both selective and nonselective media. All callus from plates of the pHYGI1/pHD-Zip-invp-1 bombardment and one T.E. treated plate are transferred from round 1 selection plates to round 2 selection plates that contain 60 mg/l hygromycin. The round 2 selection plates each contained ten 30 mg pieces of callus per plate, resulting in an expansion of the total number of plates.

After about 21 days on the round 2 selection plates, all of the material is transferred to round 3 selection plates containing 60 mg/l hygromycin. After about 79 days post-bombardment, the round 3 sets of selection plates are checked for viable sectors of callus. Viable sectors of callus are dissected from a background of necrotic tissue on the plantes treated with pHYGI1/pHD-Zip-invp-1 and transferred to F-medium without hygromycin.

After about 20 days on F-medium without hygromycin, the transformed callus is transferred to F-medium containing 60 mg/l hygromycin. The transformed callus is capable of sustained growth through multiple subcultures in the presence of 60 mg/l hygromycin.

Confirmation of Transformed Callus

To show that the pHYGI1/pHD-Zip-invp-1 treated callus has acquired the hygromycin resistance gene, genomic DNA is isolated from the callus that has sustained capacity to grow on 60 mg/l hygromycin and unselected control callus and analyzed by Southern blotting. DNA is isolated from callus tissue by freezing 2 g of callus in liquid nitrogen and grinding it to a fine powder which is transferred to a 30 ml Oak Ridge tube containing 6 ml extraction buffer (7M urea, 250 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 20 mM EDTA pH 8.0, 1% sarcosine). To this is added 7 ml of phenol:chloroform 1:1, the tubes shaken and incubated at 37° C. for 15 min. Samples are centrifuged at 8 K for 10 min. at 4° C. The supernatant is pipetted through miracloth (Calbiochem 475855) into a disposable 15 ml tube (American Scientific Products, C3920-15A) containing 1 ml 4.4M ammonium acetate, pH 5.2. Isopropanol, 6 ml is added, the tubes shaken, and the samples incubated at −20° C. for 15 min. The DNA is pelleted in a Beckman TJ-6 centrifuge at the maximum speed for 5 min. at 4° C. The supernatant is discarded and the pellet is dissolved in 500 μl TE-10 (10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 10 mM EDTA pH 8.0) 15 min. at room temperature. The samples are transferred to a 1.5 ml Eppendorf tube and 100 μl 4.4M ammonium acetate, pH 5.2 and 700 μl isopropanol is added. This is incubated at −20° C. for 15 min. and the DNA pelleted 5 min. in an Eppendorf microcentrifuge (12,000 rpm). The pellet is washed with 70% ethanol, dried, and resuspended in TE-1 (10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 1 mM EDTA).

Ten μg of isolated DNA is digested with restriction endonuclease and analyzed by Southern Blot hybridization using a probes from both the pHD-Zip-invp-1 plasmid and pHYGI1 plasmid. Digested DNA is electrophoresed in a 0.8% w/v agarose gel at 15 V for 16 hrs in TAE buffer (40 mM Tris-acetate, pH 7.6, 1 mM EDTA). The DNA bands in the gel are transferred to a Nytran membrane (Schleicher and Schuell). Transfer, hybridization and washing conditions are carried out as per the manufacturer's recommendations. DNA samples extracted from the hygromycin resistant callus tissue that are transformed with the maize HD-Zip-invp-1 transgene have DNA fragments that hybridize specifically with the HD-Zip-invp-1 hybridization probe. No hybridization signal is observed in DNA samples from control callus.

Plant Regeneration and Production of Seed

Portions of the transformed callus are transferred directly from plates containing 60 mg/l hygromycin to RM5 medium which consists of MS basal salts (Murashige et al. 1962) supplemented with thiamine-HCl 0.5 mg/l, 2,4-D 0.75 mg/l, sucrose 50 g/l, asparagine 150 mg/l, and Gelrite 2.5 g/l (Kelco Inc., San Diego).

After about 14 days on RM5 medium, the majority of transformed callus and unselected control callus are transferred to R5 medium (RM5 medium, except that 2,4-D is omitted). The plates are cultured in the dark for about 7 days at 26° C. and transferred to a light regime of 14 hrs light and 10 hrs dark for about 14 days at 26° C. At this point, plantlets that have formed are transferred to one quart canning jars (Ball) containing 100 ml of R5 medium. Plants are transferred from jars to vermiculite for about 7 or 8 days before transplanting them into soil and growing them to maturity. About 40 plants are produced from the transformed callus and about 10 plants are produced from control callus (untransformed hygromycin sensitive callus).

Controlled pollinations of mature transformed plants is conducted by standard techniques with inbred Zea mays lines MBS501 (Mike Brayton Seeds), and FR4326 (Illinois Foundation Research). Seed is harvested about 45 days post-pollination and allowed to dry further for 1–2 weeks.

Analysis of the R1 Progeny

R1 plants are tested for the presence of the HPT and pHD-Zip-invp-1 transgene sequences by PCR analysis. To conduct the PCR assay, 0.1 g samples are taken from plant tissues and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Samples are then ground with 120 grit carborundum in 200 μl 0.1M Tris-HCl, 0.1M NaCl, 20 mM EDTA, 1% Sarkosyl pH 8.5) at 40° C. Following phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol and isopropanol precipitations, samples are suspended in T.E. and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (K. B. Mullis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,202).

PCR is carried out in 100 μl volumes in 50 mM KCl, 10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.4, 3 MM MgCl₂, 100 μg/1 ml gelatin, 0.25 μM each of the appropriate primers, 0.2 mM of each deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, dTTP), 2.5 Units of Tag DNA polymerase (Cetus), and 10 μl of the DNA preparation. The mixture is overlaid with mineral oil, heated to 94° C. for 3 min, and amplified for 35 cycles of 55° C. for 1 min, 72° C. for 1 min, 94° C. for 1 min. The mixture is then incubated at 50° C. for 2 min and 72° C. for 5 mm. 10 μl of the PCR product is electrophoresed in agarose gels and visualized by staining with ethidium bromide.

For analysis of the presence of the hygromycin-B phosphotransferase (HPT) gene, a PCR primer complementary to the CaMV 35S promoter, and one complementary to the HPT coding sequence is employed. Thus, in order to generate the appropriately sized PCR product, the HPT template DNA must contain contiguous CaMV 35S promoter region, Adhl intron, and 5′ protein HPT coding sequence region. For analysis of the presence of the maize HD-Zip protein-1 inverted repeat transgene, PCR primers complementary to sequences within the HD-Zip protein-1 inverted repeat region are employed.

R₁ plants that are homozygous for the maize HD-Zip protein-1 inverted repeat transgene exhibit a plant morphology phenotype that is caused by a transgene suppression of endogenous HD-Zip protein-1 function. Loss of wild-type HD-Zip protein-1 function causes modulation of maize cell division. The modulated cell division phenotype results in transformed plants whose leaves are longer and contain more cells. Cell numbers in stem and leaves are determined as explained by Talbert et al. 1995 Development 121:2723–35.

EXAMPLE 9 Modulation of Cell Division in Rice Seed

Dehusked mature seeds of the rice cultivar Nipponbare are surfaced-sterilized, placed on solid 2N6 medium (N6 medium (Chu et. al. 1975 Sci. Sin. Peking 18:659), supplemented with 0.5 mg/l nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/l pyridoxine-HCl, 1.0 mg/l thiamine-HCl, 2.0 mg/l 2,4-D, 30 g/l sucrose, and 2.0 μl Phytagel, pH 5.8), and cultured at 27° C. in the dark. Callus develops from the scutella of the embryos within 3–4 weeks. Embryogenic portions of primary callus are transferred to N67 medium (N6 medium (Chu et al. 1975), supplemented with 0.5 mg/l nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/l pyridoxine-HCl, 1.0 mg/l thiamine-HCl, 2.0 g/l casamino acids (vitamin assay, Difco), 1.0 mg/l 2,4-D, 0.5 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine, 20 g/l sucrose, 30 g/l sorbitol, and 2.0 g/l Phytagel, pH 5.8) for propagation into compact embryogenic callus.

About three to four weeks after subculture, the embryogenic callus are used for transformation with rice genomic HD-Zip gp-1 plasmid DNA. The callus is cut into fragments with a maximum length of about 1.5 to 2 mm. The callus pieces are washed twice in EPM (5 mM CaCl₂, 10 mM HEPES and 0.425 M mannitol) and then preplasmolyzed in this buffer for 30 minutes to 3 hours at room temperature (25° C.). Then, the callus fragments are washed twice with EPM-KCl (EPM buffer with 80 mM Kcl) and transferred to electroporation cuvettes. Each cuvette is loaded with about 150 to 200 mg of callus fragments in 100 to 200 μl EPM-KCl. 10 to 20 μg of a plasmid DNA, either circular pHD-Zip-asgp-1 or linearized pHD-Zip-asgp-1, are added per cuvette. pHD-Zip-asgp-1 is a plasmid that contains an antisense HD-Zip protein-1 transgene that is under the transcriptional control of a rice actin promoter (Wang et al., 1992). The antisense HD-Zip-gp-1 transgene comprises a polynucleotide sequence cloned from rice genomic DNA (Example 3) that is set forth in SEQ ID No.: 115. The pHD-Zip-asgp-1 plasmid also contains a chimaeric gene comprising the bar gene under the control of the CaMV 35S3 promoter (see European patent publication (“EP”) 359617). The bar gene (see EP 242236) encodes phosphinothricin acetyl transferase which confers resistance to the herbicide phosphinothricin. The chimeric bar transgene comprises a phosphinothricin acetyl transferase coding sequence and a chloroplast targeting transit sequence.

The DNA is incubated with the callus fragments for about 1 hour at room temperature. Electroporation is then carried out as described in Example 4. After electroporation, liquid N67 medium without casamino acids is added to the callus fragments. The callus fragments are then plated on solid N67 medium without casamino acids but supplemented with 5, 10 or 20 mg/l phosphinothricin (PPT) and are cultured on this selective medium at 27° C. under a light/dark regime of 16/8 hours for about 4 weeks. Developing PPT-resistant calli are isolated and subcultured for about two to three weeks onto fresh N67 mediun without casamino acids but containing 5 mg/l PPT. Thereafter, selected PPT-resistant calli are transferred to plant regeneration medium N6M25 (N6 medium (Chu et al. 1975), supplemented with 0.5 mg/l nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/l pyridoxine-HCl, 1.0 mg/l thiamine-HCl, 288 mg/l aspartic acid, 174 mg/l arginine, 7.0 mg/l glycine, 1.0 mg/l O-naphthalenacetic acid (NAA), 5.0 mg/l kinetin, 20 g/l sucrose and 2.0 g/l Phytagel, pH 5.8) supplemented with 5 mg/l PPT. Plantlets develop within approximately 1 month and are then transferred to hormone-free N6 medium (Chu et al. 1975), supplemented with 0.5 mg/l nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/l pyridoxin-HCl, 1. 0 mg/l thiamine-HCl, 1.0 g/l casamino acids, 20 g/l sucrose, and 2.0 g/l Phytogel, pH 5.8) on which they are kept for another 2 to 3 weeks, after which they are transferred to soil and cultivated in the greenhouse.

Characterization of the Transformed Rice Plants

The above transformed rice plants are cultivated in soil until seed set and seed maturation. Seeds of the progeny of the transformants are sown in aqueous 400-fold Homai hydrate (Kumiai Kagaku Inc.) solution containing 70 mg/l of hygromycin and incubated therein at 25° C. for 10 days, thereby selecting for the resistance to hygromycin. Twenty seeds of each plant of the progeny of the transformants are sown and cultured for about 3 weeks. Leave are collected from the hygromycin resistant R₁ plants and compared to leaves collected from rice plants that were regenerated using the above described methods but do not contain an antisense HD-Zip-asgp-1 transgene. Leaves collected from the pHD-Zip-asgp-1 transformed plants exhibit modulated cell division as indicated by the increased size of the rice leaves.

Transformed and non transformed plants are analyzed by means of a Southern hybridization in which plant genomic DNA, is digested and probed with pRiceHD-Zip-gp-1 DNA. The hybridization data shows that the transgenic plants exhibiting modulation of cell division contain at least part of one copy of pRiceHD-Zip-gp-3 plasmid DNA that is integrated into the rice genome.

EXAMPLE 10 Modulation of Cell Division in Rice Stems

Preparation of Sample Cultured Tissues

Scutellum callus from variety Koshihikari of japonica rice (Oryza sativa L.) is prepared for Agrobacterium tumifaciens mediated transformation using the method of Hiei et al. (1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616). Mature seeds of rice are sterilized by being immersed in 70% ethanol for 1 minute and then in 1% sodium hypochlorite solution for 30 minutes. The seeds are then placed on 2N6 solid medium (inorganic salts and vitamins of N6 (Chu, 1978 Proc. Symp. Plant Tissue Culture, Science Press Peking, pp. 43–50), 1 g/l of casamino acid, 2 mg/l of 2,4-D, 30 g/l of sucrose, 2 g/l of Gelrite). After culturing the mature seeds for about 3 weeks, callus growth forms that originates from scutella. This scutella callus is transferred to 2N6 medium and cultured therein for 4–7 days. The resulting calli are used as “scutellum callus” samples.

The calli originated from scutella are transferred to AA liquid medium (major inorganic salts of AA, amino acids of AA and vitamins of AA (Toriyama et al., 1985 Plant Science 41:179–183), MS minor salts (Murashige et al., 1962 Physiol. Plant. 15:473–497), 0.5 g/l of casamino acid, 1 mg/l of 2,4-D, 0.2 mg/l of kinetin, 0.1 mg/l of gibberellin and 20 g/l of sucrose) and the cells are cultured therein at 25° C. in the dark under shaking of 120 rpm to obtain suspended cultured cells. The medium is replaced with fresh medium every week.

Ti Plasmid (Binary Vector)

The T-DNA region of pTOK232 (Hiei et al., 1994) is altered by replacement of the CaMV 35S promoter/Gus/nos polyA transgene with the following inverted repeat rice HD-Zip protein-1 transgene construction. SEQ ID NO:121 discloses the DNA sequence of a rice cDNA insert obtained in Example 3. An inverted repeat of SEQ ID No.:121 is inserted between a rice actin promoter region and a nopaline synthase polyA addition sequence. This altered pTOK232 plasmid is a binary transformation vector called pTOKivr-HD-Zip-p1.

Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 has a Ti-plasmid from which the T-DNA region was deleted is used as the host bacteria for the rice transformation. Strain LBA4404 has a helper plasmid PAL4404 (having a complete vir region), and is available from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 37349). Binary vector pTOKivr-HD-Zip-p1 is introduced into LBA4404 by the triple cross method of Ditta et al. (1980 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:7347–7351).

Colonies obtained by culturing the pTOKivr-HD-Zip-p1 Agrobacterium strains on AB medium (Drlica et al., 1974 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 71:3677–3681) containing hygromycin (50 μg/ml) and kanamycin (50 μg/ml) for about 3–10 days are collected with a platinum loop and suspended in modified AA medium (same as the composition of the above-described AA medium except that concentrations of sucrose and glucose are changed to 0.2 M and 0.2 M, respectively, and that 100 μM of acetosyringone is added, pH 5.2). The cell population is adjusted to 3×10⁹–5×10⁹ cells/ml and the suspensions are used for inoculation of rice callus.

Inoculation Conditions

Rice scutellum callus tissues is washed with sterilized water and immersed in the above-described suspension of Agrobacterium for 3–10 minutes. Tissue is also incubated with LBA4404 that does not contain a binary vector as a negative control. The co-cultivating scutellum callus samples are cultured at 25° C. in the dark for 2–5 days on 2N6 solid medium containing acetosyringone, glucose and sucrose in the same concentrations as mentioned above. The resulting inoculated tissues are then washed with sterilized water containing 250 mg/l of cefotaxime and then continued to be cultured on the aforementioned 2N6 solid media containing 250 mg/l cefotaxime.

Selection of Transformed Cells and Tissues

Scutellum callus that has been cultured with the Agrobacterium strains for 3 days are cultured on 2N6 medium containing 250 mg/l of cefotaxime for about 1 week. Hygromycin-resistant cultured tissues are selected by culturing the cultured tissues on 2N6 medium containing 50 mg/l of hygromycin for 3 weeks (primary selection). The obtained resistant tissues are further cultured on N6–12 medium (N6 inorganic salts, N6 vitamins, 2 g/l of casamino acid, 0.2 mg/l of 2,4-D, 0.5 mg/l of 6BA, 5 mg/l of ABA, 30 g/l of sorbitol, 20 μl of sucrose and 2 g/l of Gelrite) containing 50 mg/l of hygromycin for about 2–3 weeks (secondary selection), and the calli grown on this medium are transferred to a plant regeneration medium N6S3 containing 0, 20 or 50 mg/l of hygromycin. In all of the media used after the co-cultivation with Agrobacterium, cefotaxime is added to 250 mg/l. Calli are incubated on N6S3 medium at 25° C. under continuous illumination (about 2000 lux). Regenerated plants (R₀ generation) are eventually transferred to soil in pots and grown to maturity in a greenhouse.

Seeds of the progeny of the transformants are sown in aqueous 400-fold Homai hydrate (Kumiai Kagaku Inc.) solution containing 70 mg/l of hygromycin and incubated therein at 25° C. for 10 days, thereby selecting for the resistance to hygromycin. Twenty seeds of each plant of the progeny of the transformants are sown and cultured for about 3 weeks. Leaves are collected from seedlings transformed with the HD-Zip protein-1 inverted repeat transgene and untransformed control plants. The transformed plants have an increased number of cells in their leaves due to transgene induced modulation of cell division. Cell numbers in leaves are determined as explained by Talbert et al. 1995 Development 121:2723–35.

Transformed and non transformed plants are also analyzed by means of a Southern blot hybridization method in which plant genomic DNA, is digested and probed with pRiceHD-Zip-p-1 DNA. The hybridization data shows that the transgenic plants exhibiting modulation of cell division contain at least part of one copy of pRiceHD-Zip-p-1 plasmid DNA that is integrated into the rice genome.

EXAMPLE 8 Sense Expression of the REVOLUTA Gene Driven from the 35S Cauliflower Mosaic Virus Promoter

A DNA fragment encoding approximately 900 bp of the 35S Cauliflower Mosaic Virus promoter was amplified from the pHomer102 plasmid by PCR using primers AAGGTACCAAGTTCGACGGAGAAGGTGA [SEQ ID NO:53] and AAGGATCCTGTAGAGAGAGACTGGTGATTTCAG [SEQ ID NO:54]. Clones from independent PCR reactions were sequenced to verify the accuracy of the PCR amplification. Kpn 1 and BamHI restriction sites were included in the PCR primers to allow for the isolation of a 900 bp Kpn1-BamH1 fragment that includes the amplified 35S promoter. This Kpn1-BamH1 fragment was inserted 5′ of the REV genomic sequence in clone NO84 at Kpn1 and Bam H1 sites to generate a NO REV gene linked approximately 70 bp downstream of the 35S promoter transcription start site. The 3′ end of the REV gene was placed downstream of the REV coding region as described below.

As described above, NO84 is a clone containing the genomic DNA sequence of REVOLUTA isolated from a NO-ecotype plant. The REV NO84 gene was amplified using long distance PCR with the primers HDAL: AAAATGGAGATGGCGGTGGCTAAC [SEQ ID NO:33] and HDAR: TGTCAATCGAATCACACAAAAGACCA [SEQ ID NO:34] and essentially the conditions described above, except that denaturation steps were carried out at 94° C. and 20 second extensions were added to each cycle after 10 cycles for a total of 40 cycles.

To clone the 3′ polyadenylation signal onto the end of the gene, approximately 0.7 kb of the 3′ end of Columbia REV starting immediately downstream of the stop codon was amplified using PCR using the following oligonucleotides (5′ primer includes a NotI site: TTGCGGCCGCTTCGATTGACAGAAAAAGACTAATTT [SEQ ID NO:51]; 3′ primer includes ApaI and KpnI sites: TTGGGCCCGGTACCCTCAACCAACCACATGGAC [SEQ ID NO:52]). Clones were verified by sequencing, and the 3′ region of REV placed downstream of the NO84REV coding region in the NotI and ApaI sites of the vector. The resulting gene containing the 35S promoter, REV coding, and REV 3′ regions was cloned out of the original vector using KpnI and ligated to the pCGNl 547 T-DNA binary vector.

Transformation of 35S-REV Gene

Agrobacterium strain At503 was transformed with the above constructs and used to transform wild-type No plants using in planta transformation.

Five independently transformed lines were characterized for their growth phenotype. We found increases in leaf, stem and seed size (see FIGS. 10–12, and Table 11). Increased size was displayed to different extent by the different lines. The line that showed the largest increase in seed size produced seed that was nearly twice as heavy as the control seed.

The production of independent transgenic lines displaying large organs and seeds indicate that expression of the CaMV35S-REV gene in plants results in increased growth. Notably, the phenotype of CaMV35S-REV plants does not show any of the abnormalities displayed by rev mutants: abnormal flower, empty axils and contorted leaves. Thus, sense expression of REV is useful in obtaining crop plants with valuable characteristics.

All publications and patents mentioned in the above specification are herein incorporated by reference. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A transformed plant cell comprising a transgene encoding a REVOLUTA protein, wherein said REVOLUTA protein comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 2. The transformed plant cell of claim 1 wherein said transgene comprises SEQ ID NO:1.
 3. A transgenic plant comprising a REVOLUTA transgene, wherein said REVOLUTA transgene comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 4. The transgenic plant of claim 3 wherein said transgene comprises SEQ ID NO:1.
 5. The transformed plant cell of claim 1 wherein said transgene comprises nucleotides 2849–3081, 3390–3552, 3670–3743, 3822–3912, 4004–4099, 4187–4300, 4383–4466, 4542–4697, 4786–4860, 4942–5048, 5132–5306, 5394–5582, 5668–5748, 5834–5968, 6051–6388, 6477–6585, 6663–6812 and 6890–7045 of SEQ ID NO:1, said nucleotides encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 6. The transformed plant cell of claim 1 wherein said transgene comprises a heterologous promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 7. The transformed plant cell of claim 6 wherein said nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO: 2 comprises nucleotides 2849–3081, 3390–3552, 3670–3743, 3822–3912, 4004–4099, 4187–4300, 4383–4466, 4542–4697, 4786–4860, 4942–5048, 5132–5306, 5394–5582, 5668–5748, 5834–5968, 6051–6388, 6477–6585, 6663–6812 and 6890–7045 of SEQ ID NO:1.
 8. The transgenic plant of claim 3 wherein said REVOLUTA transgene comprises nucleotides 2849–3081, 3390–3552, 3670–3743, 3822–3912, 4004–4099, 4187–4300, 4383–4466, 4542–4697, 4786–4860, 4942–5048, 5132–5306, 5394–5582, 5668–5748, 5834–5968, 6051–6388, 6477–6585, 6663–6812 and 6890–7045 of SEQ ID NO:1, said nucleotides encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 9. The transformed plant of claim 3 wherein said transgene comprises a heterologous promoter operably linked to said nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 10. The transformed plant of claim 9 wherein said nucleic acid sequence encoding the protein of SEQ ID NO: 2 comprises nucleotides 2849–3081, 3390–3552, 3670–3743, 3822–3912, 4004–4099, 4187–4300, 4383–4466, 4542–4697, 4786–4860, 942–5048, 5132–5306, 5394–5582, 5668–5748, 5834–5968, 6051–6388, 6477–6585, 6663–6812 and 6890–7045 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 